


Thunderstruck

by Helthehatter



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Arcee - Freeform, Autobots - Freeform, Cliffjumper - Freeform, Decepticons - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Shatter, Skywarp - Freeform, Thundercracker - Freeform, Transformers - Freeform, charlie watson - Freeform, dropkick - Freeform, thundercrack x charlie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:01:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 40,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22141459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helthehatter/pseuds/Helthehatter
Summary: *Due to people unexpectedly digging Thundercracker/Charlie on my other Transfomers fic.A basic remake of the Bumblebee movie with major changes.Thundercracker, a Decepticon with amnesia, is found by despondent Charlie Watson who takes him in and a friendship turned romance starts to bloom. But Thundercracker's past as a Decepticon soldier loomed over the two friends, dangerous and approaching.
Relationships: Thundercracker/Charlie Watson
Comments: 93
Kudos: 202





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to v8rana on Discord for coming up with the title!
> 
> ...please be nice in the comments, I know this won't be everyone's cup of tea.

_Fly, fight, repeat._

  
_Fly, fight, repeat._

  
_Fly, fight, repeat._

  
That had been Thundercracker’s life for…he had lost count on how long. He imagined most Cybertronians wouldn’t be able to tell him how long this war had lasted. 

  
He imagined most of them didn’t care, at least, not the Decepticons. His comrades seemed to be enjoying this war far more than he was. Sure, he didn’t like the Autobots either but…he didn’t feel any passion or excitement for this fight.

  
_Ah well_ , he sighed to himself. _Let’s just go back to following orders._ He was still a soldier after all, and he would _always_ follow orders.

  
The latest order had him following two Autobots on to some primitive, back water planet called Earth. A planet Lord Megatron was interested in taking for a new Decepticon base. 

  
Flying through the Earth’s atmosphere Thundercracker took in how the planet seemed to be mostly covered in a blue liquid.

  
_Oh no_ , he suddenly felt exhausted, thinking about how much Starscream (his fellow seeker/boss/future-leader-of-Decepticon-once-Megatron-bites-it) would hate a wet planet. And Thundercracker would have to listen to his indignant temper tantrums. Lucky him. 

  
But that was a problem for future Thundercracker, present Thundercracker had two Autobots to find and kill. Having spotted their escape pods crash land in a thickly forested area, the seeker turned toward the destination after he made it through the planet’s atmosphere.

  
But as he flew he took note of a pack of jets flying toward him, for half a klik he thought they were fellow Decepticons, or maybe even flying Autobots. But no, he made out the strange, organic creatures inside the machines. He had been told about this before he had been sent on this mission: humans.

  
While he personally didn’t find them as disgusting looking as other Cons did, he wasn’t going to risk a fight with them. He was told to kill the Autobots and lie low until more Decepticons arrived. 

  
He flew past with ease, noticing his own vehicle form was alien-looking compared to these jets. Thundercracker quickly scanned one, donned his new disguise and continued on. 

  
Once he reached the forest where the Autobots had landed, he slowed down, examining his surroundings. He saw another body of water, not as large as the one that covered the planet but still incredibly unnecessarily. What’s more was that there were more humans splashing around in the water. Gross.

  
He was so preoccupied with watching the organics he wasn’t aware he wasn’t alone until a blast of pain hit him.

  
Thundercracker let out a snarl of fury as he crashed into the forest, managing to transform into his robot form before he hit the ground. Rising to his feet he whirled around to see a familiar red Cybertronian glaring at him. 

  
The scout, Cliffjumper, was glaring down at him. His own body bruised and dented from fighting so much and recovering so little.

  
With the metal of his chest smoking Thundercracker snarled, “You need to reconsider putting me in a _worse_ mood. Either we do this the easy way or we make this difficult.”

  
Cliffjumper didn’t reply, odd. All the Autobots he met in battle where usually incredibly mouthy. His enemies’ quips were one of the few things that he actually enjoyed about this stupid war, not that he’d ever admit it.

  
But the Autobot’s silence suddenly made sense when he felt the barrel of a canon placed against the back of his head. 

  
“Ah, right,” he said with acceptance. “Hello, Arcee.”

  
“Hello, Thundercracker,” she answered. She sounded exhausted, but more from physical exhaustion, not because she didn’t want to be here. “None of us need to keep fighting. There’s two of us and one of you,” she pointed out. “Just surrender.”

  
Thundercracker laughed humorlessly, giving a slight shake of his head. “I just knew you’d pick…difficult.”

  
Two fast for the femme bot to register, Thundercracker, whirled around and grabbed her arm, throwing her to the side and immediately started shooting.   
Cliffjumper used his own body as a shield as he helped Arcee to her feet and then the two transformed and bolted deeper into the woods.

  
“ _Get back here_!” he snarled, transforming back into a jet and soaring up above the trees to go after them. 

  
_Why_ did they have to be so insistant to contiune fighting? What was the point? The Autobots had been losing this war for nearly as long as it war itself. Why keep it up? What were they even fighting for?

  
Thundercracker’s annoyed, almost furious, thoughts distracted him and he almost flew right past Arcee and Cliffjumper. The two had came to an exhausted halt in an empty quarry, a perfect place to get this over with.

  
Barely halting he dove down, straight for Cliffjumper. The Autobot caught of him just before the Decepticon crashed into him. 

  
Arcee jumped out of the way as the two rolled across the dusty ground, slamming fists into each others chest and faces. Thundercracker had hoped Cliffjumper had been too weak to fight back, he could pin the Autobot down and finish it with a quick blast to the head. But he should have guessed these stubborn, stupid Autobots wouldn’t let his mission be easy. 

  
Cliffjumper managed a kick to Thundercracker’s head, stunning the Con long enough for him to put distance between them. But as soon as he did Arcee started shooting madly at Thundercracker, the fire making his metal skin blister. 

  
Thundercracker lunged at her with a furious snarl but Cliffjumper wasn’t done, slamming into him before he could reach his comrade. But this time Thundercracker was able to fire a shot, hitting Cliffjumper in the leg and making the Autobot tumble to his knees. He turned toward Arcee when something unexpected happen.

  
Someone started firing at them both.

  
Dodging the rapid fire shots he looked up to recognize the jets he had passed earlier flying toward them. A bunch of humans actually thought they stood a chance against them. He pulled out his laser cannon, feeling an uncomfortable twinge at the thought of shooting at the primitive creatures. But before he could decide if he would or not Arcee got the upper hand, aiming a shot right at his head. 

  
Pain lacerated the side of his face and he fell on his hands and knees, his audio sensors ringing, a warning showing up in the corner of his vision as more ammo from the humans pelted his still body.

  
_Gotta get ou_ t, he told himself in a panic. _Gotta go, gotta retreat!_

  
Thundercracker was woefully outmatched, two Autobots and humans who he had no battle experience with. While Arcee helped Cliffjumper to his feet Thundercracker turned and transformed, disappearing into the air and leaving the Autobots to fend for themselves. 

  
He was more exhausted than he thought, having chased the two Autobots across the galaxy and ending up in that fight, he needed a place to rest and recoup. But he couldn’t land just anywhere, he needed to hide.

  
He flew far longer than he liked and just before he was about to fall out of the sky he could make out a large fenced in property. It was filled to the brim with strange human objects, a few being Autobot-like vehicles, but then he saw the large square buliding. The perfect size for himself.

  
With his vision starting to blur Thundercracker awkwardly landed on the ground and, still in jet-form, drove into the building. It was empty with the exception of a few small human objects but considering how dusty it was it was not used much. He just needed some time to gather his strength, then he could leave and finish off the Autobots and then contact his fellow Decepticons and then…and then… 

  
Thundercracker’s exhaustion dragged his mind into black nothingness. 


	2. Chapter 2

_Work, sleep, repeat._

_Work, sleep, repeat._

_Work, sleep, repeat._

That was Charlie’s life this summer, in this dreadful never-ending summer. 

  
Don’t get her wrong, it wasn’t like school would be even more enjoyable, but at least it was proving the passage of time was still a thing. It would bring her closer to graduation, to going to college, to getting out of this town, out of her mother’s house. And then…and then she had to believe she would feel better.

  
But until then Charlie slammed her hand onto her alarm clock and slid out of her bed. She followed her morning tradition of getting together, shower, brush teeth, blow a kiss to her father’s picture, and try not to vomit when she caught her mother sharing a good morning kiss with _Ron_.

  
“Hey sweetie,” Sally greeted her daughter as started to make her breakfast. “Glad I caught you, remember to go check on your uncle’s scrap yard before work.”

  
Uncle Hank had won a trip to the Grand Canyon and asked his sister in law and niece to check in on his scrap yard every now and then. He had been so paranoid that someone would want to steal his junk. The only good thing in that yard was the barn that held her dad’s old stuff. 

  
Anyway, since Sally was a nurse and spent all her free time holding her future stepfather’s hand, so it was up to Charlie to ride up to the scrap yard and look over it. Because of course, Charlie was just a teen, there was no way she had _better_ things to do (she didn’t but that was besides the point).

  
“Fine,” she answered, sounding less than thrilled with request/order.

  
But unfortunately her tone brought out Sally’s mom extinct and she came over to squeeze Charlie’s shoulder. “You don’t have to do it tomorrow. Its your birthday and you don’t have to work. Why don’t you…go out with some friends? Have a night in town? As long as there’s no alcohol or drugs.”

  
Charlie had nearly forgotten it was her birthday. “I think they’re busy tomorrow.”

  
In truth Charlie didn’t really have friends anymore. Not after they thought a year was long enough to get over her father’s death. They were more interested in going on dates and acting like the popular girls, and Charlie-apparently-had always brought their mood down when they hung out. A part of her had been furious to hear them say she should just ‘move on’ (she had her mother and brother to do that), but a part of her didn’t feel any loss that she was even more alone now.

  
“Then why don’t you go on a date, instead?” Sally asked, as if that was in any way a possibility. “Any boys at work you like?”

  
Charlie flushed and nearly choked on her cereal. “N-no, Mom! And even if I did they wouldn’t want to go out with _me_!?”

  
Sally’s brow furrowed and if Ron (having gone to fetch Otis) hadn’t returned to the kitchen to take her to work, Charlie knew she would have been dragged into an uncomfortable conversation about Charlie’s sense of self-worth.

  
After everyone left Charlie finished up her breakfast and grabbed her bike, ready to head up to the scrap yard, glance over Uncle Hank’s list of items in the yard, and come to the logical conclusion that _no one_ wanted to steal any of it.

.

The scrap yard was on an isolated hill that looked down on the small, California-based town that Charlie was stuck in. It was a relativity big area, fenced up with a big sign warning to not trespass and to beware of the dog that didn’t exist. 

  
With the key her uncle had left Charlie opened up the gate and, parking her bike near the fence, made a beeline to the barn where the items list was left.   
Charlie admitted that this barn was one of the few places she would miss when she left. But mainly for the memories.

  
Her father had been an air force one pilot but had retired early due to a leg injury. But he had never lost his love of flying, he would collect books about jets and planes and tell Charlie everything he knew. He would describe flying in such vivid detail that she had wanted to go up into the air since she was a little girl. For years she and her dad dreamed that they could do just that, win a lottery, buy their own personal jet and take off, travel the world. The older she got the more she saw how silly the idea was, but flying as a career was still a dream that kept her head in the clouds.

  
But then her dad was gone, and Charlie’s dream stayed in the barn along with all the times she had spent with her father. They had listened to music, watch movies, and one time even had a jet to look over. A friend of her father’s, who was still in the force, had brought it for him to look over and assess some damage it had taken. All the while Charlie, a spunky eleven year old, got to sit in the cock pit and have the time of her life. It was one of the memories she had held closest to her heart.

  
When she stepped into the barn Charlie seriously considered that she had gone back in time. 

  
A jet-specifically a F-4 Phantom-stood in the middle of the barn as if it belonged there. 

  
Had-had Uncle Hank returned? Had he brought back a jet from the Grand Canyon? But a quick look around the scrap yard proved she was alone, except for this military grade jet that had appeared out of thin air.

  
A sense of wary curiosity had Charlie take the few steps needed to reach the jet. With the same amount of caution Charlie reached her hand out and placed her palm against the jet’s nosecone. 

  
It was warm, as if it someone had recently been flying it. But that was impossible, she would have seen them leave or fly in, unless-

  
Charlie couldn’t see inside the cockpit from where she stood. Was there a pilot in there? Wounded? Passed out?

  
She reached for the jet’s wing and used it to hoist herself up and get a look in the cockpit, not only was it empty it looked brand new. How on Earth did it get here?  
Charlie pressed her hands against the glass, which somehow caused the cockpit to swing open, startling her to where she nearly fell off the wing. After she caught her balance she once again looked into the cockpit, now this time open and inviting. A sense of hunger overcame her…she hadn’t sat in one of these since she was a little girl. It wouldn’t hurt if she sat in it for just a few moments, she _deserved_ one good thing.

  
Before she could talk herself out of it Charlie slid into the seat of the cockpit, being sure that it wouldn’t close on her. But really any of her worries nearly melted from her mind as she leaned against the seat, as warm as the rest of the jet, she fit perfectly. 

  
Careful not to touch anything she ran her hands over the buttons and levers and knobs, feeling her throat swell with emotion. This was the most beautiful jet she had even seen, and she hoped that wherever her dad was, he could see her.

  
Then-quite suddenly-a strange groan came from the jet, making Charlie jump and her hand ran against a switch as she jolted, accidentally flicking it on.  
Panicking, seeing visions of the jet taking off and crashing into a burning pile cause Charlie wouldn’t be able to control it, she hurried out of the cockpit and jumped. She landed on her hands and knees, and nearly falling on her stomach from the new found ache of her arms, just what she needed.

  
Charlie turned back to the jet that was now quiet again and loomed over her almost threateningly. It was from this new perspective that she saw a splash of color on the belly of the jet. It was a purple that stood out amongst the blue and whitish gray of the rest of the paint job. 

  
Not learning her lesson when the jet moaned, Charlie crawled under it to get a better look at the spot.

  
It was a symbol, but, not one she knew. It was a menacing looking face, she couldn’t recall ever seeing anything like it. She reached her hand up to let her fingers trace over it.

  
Then the jet shuddered.

  
Charlie let out a bark of panic and fall onto her back as the machine started _moving_ , all by itself it started to arc and shift, pits of machinery rolling and turning as something new, some vaguely human shaped, appeared over her, replacing the jet.

  
Charlie watched in stunned, shaking silence, until everything went still again. She wasn’t looking up at a jet, it was a robot, on its hands and knees, its long, claw-like fingers trapping her. 

  
She stared up at a face, an actual face, as it scowled and blinked several times, its eyes red and glowing.

  
And then it looked down at her.

.

Through the dullness of the day several Cybertronians came to a stop, sensing the noise, the signal. It was a Decepticon signal, here on Earth, of the missing Thundercracker. 

  
Fear and excitement made their sparks rush.


	3. Chapter 3

His senses came back in a bolt of color as he transformed and crouched on the ground.

  
Where was he? What was going on?

  
He blinked, his vision fuzzy and his audio ringing, but they gradually returned to them. And once he could see straight he looked down and saw-a human.

  
She was staring up at him with wide, scared eyes, lying on her back between his hands. Where had she come from?

  
The organic suddenly screamed, loud and piercing and too harsh to his tender hearing. He jumped back, nearly jumping to the roof of this unfamiliar building as he scrambled away from her, slamming his back into a corner. 

  
The human rose to her feet and bolted for the door. He wasn’t going to chase it.

  
But once she reached the door she looked over her shoulder and came to a sudden halt, staring at him in a mixture of confusion, fear, and…interest, he thought. 

  
Her chest was fluttering as she stared at him. He pushed him back farther into the wall but he couldn’t stop his optics from looking her over, she looked…fragile yet…not? Her brown optics had a shine to them. 

  
She swallowed and spoke, her voice much more pleasant now that she wasn’t screaming at him. “Are you-are you real?”

  
As nice as her voice was…he didn’t know how to reply to that. So he just looked at her.

  
“I mean,” she shook her head, looking as confused as he felt. “I’m not hallucinating right? You’re right here. What- _who_ are you?”

  
“Who are _you_?” he shot back, making her jump by suddenly speaking.

  
“I-” she stared at him with wide eyes. “I’m Charlie.”

  
He lifted his chin, “And I’m Thundercracker. I-” now it was his turn to stutter. “I’m…I don’t know.” He knew his name, he knew he was a transformer but he couldn’t recall anything else. Not his past, not how he got here, nothing else. 

  
He had been looking at the ground as he searched his memories, or lack of memories, and didn’t notice this Charlie walking over until she stood before him. He jumped, surprised, and tried to lean farther away.

  
She quickly held her hands out in a pacifying pose, “It’s okay.”

  
“Please don’t scream,” he begged.

  
Her brow furrowed, whatever she had expected him to say, it hadn’t been that. “I won’t. If you promise you’re not going to step on me or anything.”

  
That made him turn back toward her, “Why would I do that? We’ve never even met before.” He hesitated, “Have we?”

  
She let out a noise that could have been considered a hysterical chuckle, “No. No we have not I’d definitely remember meeting…someone like you. What _are_ you?”

  
“I’m a jet,” he answered simply cause that was all he knew. And he could have been mistaken but it looked like she nearly smiled.

  
“Yeah, but you’re not like any jet I’ve ever seen before,” she said. “Most jets don’t transform into giant robots.”

  
“I guess I’m one of a kind,” he joked, pulling his mouth into a smile. She returned the smile, hesitant but sincere.

  
He straightened up and looked over her head to the open door, where he could see a blue sky, “Where am I?”

  
“In my uncle’s scrap yard.”

  
“What _planet_ am I on?”

  
The question made her look even more shocked. “Earth. Are you not from Earth? Stupid, you’re a talking robot that transforms into a jet, of _course_ you’re not from Earth. What planet are you from?”

  
Fear of the unknown rose up inside him, “I don’t know. I don’t know where I’m from or how I got here…I just, don’t know.”

  
She must have heard the anxiety in his voice and she took a step closer, “I’m sorry to hear that, it sounds like you have amnesia…” She straightened up, “But you can stay here, in this barn. Until you get your memories back, if you want.”

  
He looked down at her, “You’d let me stay here? We don’t even know each other.”

  
“True,” she laughed again, less hysterical and he found he liked the sound. “But now that I know you don’t want to abduct or eat me I definitely want to know more about you.” 

  
The words made his spark jump. Why, he had no idea. But he was beyond flattered that this human wanted to spend more time with him even though he had already told her everything he knew about himself. It was touching.

  
He leaned forward, his optics casting a red glow across her body, he kinda liked how it looked. “Well, it’s not like I have any plans. I’ll stay, at least until this amnesia wears off.” His words came out as if he were doing _her_ a favor and he worried that she would think he was rude.

  
But she only nodded, a small smile on her face. “It’s a deal.”

  
Thundercracker reached his hand out to her and she took a step back.

  
“Proper introductions this time, I’m Thundercracker.”

  
Her smile grew and she reached out to take one of his fingers, offering a small shake, “Charlie Watson. Nice to meet you.”

  
“Nice to meet you too, now if I could ask. Why were you sitting in my cockpit?”

  
Her eyes widened, “Were you awake the entire time I was in here?”

  
“No, but I think you woke me up by flipping one of my switches,” he explained. 

  
“Ah, well, first off I apologize,” Charlie replied. “I’d never have got in you-”her cheeks suddenly turned red and she cleared her throat, “I never would have invaded your personal space if I knew you were alive. I just, I always wanted to fly in jets. I’ve always liked them.”

  
Another smile pulled up on his face without his say-so. This was the second time his spark bounced and he wondered if she could do it more. “Well, thanks for waking me up,” he replied. “As a reward you can be my co-pilot. I’m not positive but I think I’ve always wanted one.”

  
She laughed, and his spark did another flip. Was that normal for himself? Was he ill? Was it worrisome that he didn’t care if he was?

  
Charlie glanced over her shoulder to the doorway again, and suddenly her happy expression dropped along with her jaw. “Oh no. Oh no, no, no.”

  
“What’s wrong?” he looked toward the door, expecting that someone had walked in on them.

  
“I’m late for work! I’m so late for work!” She looked up at him apologetically. “I have to go.”

  
Fear sliced into and he reached out toward her as she ran away. “Wait, did I do something wrong? Please don’t go!” He couldn’t bear the thought of being alone without any memories or sense of self.

  
Charlie looked back at him, “Nothing’s wrong. I have a job I have to do right now. But I’ll come back, I’ll come back tonight.”

  
“Promise?” he hated how desperate he sounded.

  
She nodded, her eyes shining. “I promise.” 

.

Charlie got an earful when she finally got to work, two hours late. Something she had never done before. But the scolding didn’t bother her, all day her thoughts were full of Thundercracker and more than once she nearly convinced herself that she had been dreaming.

  
But he was real. He was a living jet. And he wanted to see her again. Charlie couldn’t remember the last time she had looked forward to something.

  
Once she returned home she saw Sally in the kitchen, waiting for her in her disapproving mom pose, arms crossed and feet firmly planted. 

  
_Oh, no._

  
“I got a call during a very busy shift today,” Sally started. “They said you hadn’t arrived at work. I trust you showed up afterward?”

  
“I did,” Charlie assured. “I was just two hours late, nobody’s perfect.”

  
“Charlie,” Sally began in her mom tone, “As much as you don’t like your job you were always good at never being late. Don’t tell him you spent all that time hiding out at the scrap yard.”

  
Charlie swallowed. There was no way she could tell her what happened. She wouldn’t believe her and sent her to a shrink. But she wouldn’t let Charlie go to bed until she answered her question, and Charlie had plans to split out later tonight and head back to Thundercracker.

  
“I, uh…” she panicked. “I met someone.”

  
That wasn’t a lie. She had met someone. He just wasn’t human.

  
Sally’s eyes sparkled, “A boy?”

  
 _Oh, shit._

  
“Yeeeah, his name is T…TC. He’s very sweet, a little scattered brained but we really connected. He likes planes and stuff too.”

  
She could tell Sally was absolutely thrilled but she kept her disapproving mom face on. “Charlie. You can’t be skipping work to hang out with boys.” 

  
“I know,” she said, “And I promise I won’t ever do it again but…it’s the first time I ever felt like a guy actually liked me and it…made me happy.” She looked down, “I was hoping you’d be happy for me.”

  
“Of _course_ I’m happy for you.” Sally dropped her disapproval and walked over to pull her daughter into a hug. “I’m so happy you found someone you can connect to and spend time with. I just don’t want you to make any wrong decisions.”

  
“I won’t,” Charlie promised. “Promise.”

  
“Okay then.” Sally pulled away, looking satisfied she had parented the situation well. “So…can you tell me more about him?”

  
“Sure…” Charlie hesitated. “But can I tomorrow? I’m really tired.”

  
“Ah, all right,” Sally relented. “I get it. It’s not cool to talk boys with mom, but if you two hang out anymore I’m gonna wanna meet him.”

  
Giving her daughter a kiss on the cheek Sally headed toward the living room. No doubt going to tell Ron that her little girl was finally ‘in love’. 

  
_Well_ , Charlie thought as she walked toward her bed room. _That could have been more painful._


	4. Chapter 4

“Do you think it’s Thundercracker?”

  
Arcee and Cliffjumper stared down at the wide expanse of city, where it was too easy for a clever Decepticon to hide. Thundercracker was a clever Decepticon.

  
“That’s what the signal said,” Arcee answered Cliffjumper’s question. “But it had immediately stopped so…I have no idea exactly _where_ he is.”

  
“We need to find him quickly,” Cliffjumper replied, a trace of anxiety in his voice. “There’s far too many humans around here.”

  
“Far too many humans…” Arcee’s brow furrowed in thought. “But maybe we can use that to out advantage. 

.

Charlie hadn’t got to spend as much time with Thundercracker as she had wanted.

  
It was already dusk by the time she returned to the scrap yard, and stepping inside, she half-expected it to be empty. The giant robot just a figure of her imagination.

  
But throwing the barn down open she felt a rare smile pull up her lips as she saw Thundercracker. 

  
The jet turned around and his smile was much more open and he jumped to his feet, “You’re back-” his head hit the ceiling, and he stumbled a second, looking as if he didn’t know what just happened.

  
“You okay?” she hurried over, fighting back a laugh.

  
“That-” he looked up at the ceiling, dust raining down on him. “That ceiling moved.”

  
“No, it’s just lowered on this side,” she explained, “It was built back when I was a little girl. Never did ask why though…”

  
“Because they thought it would be funny if, one day, Thundercracker made a hole in the ceiling with his _face_ ,” the jet growled. “And embarrass himself.” 

  
“You’re fine,” Charlie chuckled before looking over to the wall that they stood next to. Wooden work tables had been placed in the barn, covered in her Dad’s old stuff that neither she or her uncle had the heart to move. Books on flying, models of planes, an old TV set with a few of his favorite VHS tapes. 

  
A sense of possessive over her father’s belongings had Charlie’s shoulders tensing. “But why don’t we move over here?”

  
She didn’t think there was any short of edge in her voice but Thundercracker still gave her a curious/concerned look before he obeyed. Mindful of the ceiling this time he returned to the spot where Charlie had left him while she hurried over to the barn’s light switch, flicking it on and illuminating the mostly barren barn. 

  
“Oh, that’s nice,” Thundercracker looked up at a light bulb. He reached his hand out as if to tap the bulb but then apparently thought better of it. “Though I can see in the dark.”

  
“Really? Cool,” Charlie smiled up at him as she walked back over. “But humans can’t, and I prefer to see who I’m talking to.”

  
Thundercracker suddenly offered her a charming smile, “I can understand that. I found a mirror in the scrap yard,” he lifted his chin, “I am _very_ pleasant to look at.” 

  
Charlie laughed again, wrapping her arms around herself. In a span of a few minutes she had laughed more because of this robot than she had in the last few months. But she decided to not acknowledge how warm her cheeks now felt. 

  
“You looked through the scrap yard?” she asked, looking toward the door. 

  
“Yeah, is that okay?” he asked, suddenly sounding nervous. “I was bored and wanted to check my surroundings.”

  
“It’s fine,” she replied. The scrap yard was on top of a forested hill, unless someone got lost and stumbled onto the scrap yard no one would spot him. “My uncle won’t be back for a few more weeks.” What she would do then, she wasn’t sure. That was a problem for future Charlie. 

  
Making herself comfortable on the cement floor Charlie asked, “Have you got any of your memories back?”

  
A flash of worry and fear shone in the robot’s eyes and he shook his head, “No. I haven’t. But if I do you’ll be the first to know.”

  
They stayed quiet for a moment, Charlie wondering what she could possibly talk to Thundercracker about. Sure, she had a million questions to ask but with his amnesia she doubted he’d be able to answer any of those questions. And she didn’t find her mundane life any sort of thrilling, or worth talking about. 

  
But apparently Thundercracker disagreed, “You said you had a job. What do you do?”

  
“Oh, I just work at a fair,” she said quickly.

  
His head tilted, “A fair?”

  
“It’s just a place where people come to ride rides, play games, and eat unhealthy food. I’m the cause for the last thing, I fry corn dogs.”

  
Thundercracker blinked, it was clear by his expression that he didn’t understand a majority of what she said, but he wasn’t going to admit it. “Uh, I can go into detail about all that,” she offered. “If you want?”

  
“Sure, I mean,” he tried to play cool. “If _you_ want.”

  
The next few hours had Charlie explaining things such as Ferris-wheels and roller coasters. She was surprised to see him taking in every word she said, and not looking bored once. Charlie had no idea if he found what she said truly interesting or if he was just being nice, either way it felt nice to have someone hang on every word she said.

  
But when she realized how late it had gotten she gave the robot an apologetic look. “I need to get back home, it’s late.”

  
“Oh, okay,” Thundercracker said. It was so bizarre to hear someone sound so disappointed that she was leaving. “Will you be back tomorrow?”

  
“I’ll try,” she replied. “Tomorrow’s my birthday so I know my mom will want us to spend the day together in town. But I promise, I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

  
Her words seemed to soothe him and he gave a small nod. Charlie gave one more wave goodbye before heading out of the barn, finding herself looking forward for tomorrow.

.

Charlie felt like she had just gotten into bed when her alarm clock screamed and she was hurried through breakfast and out the door. Sally, Otis, and even Ron, more determined to enjoy her birthday than she herself was. 

  
It started with a big pancake breakfast, but with such a lack of sleep Charlie couldn’t summon the appetite to finish her plate. Which led to Sally grilling her with concerned nurse questions, and for Otis to finish her plate for her. 

  
But things really started to go down hill when they arrived at the movie theater.

  
“Kristie, hey!”

  
Charlie squirmed inwardly when she saw her ex-friend at the snack counter, Sally having waved at her ecstatically as if she had been Kristie’s friend. 

  
“Hi, Mrs. Watson,” Kristie said politely, “It’s good to see you again.”

  
“It’s good to see you too,” Sally replied then glanced at her daughter who hung back. “It’s Charlie’s birthday and we’re out celebrating.”

  
Kristie gave her a awkward look, “Oh, uh, happy birthday.”

  
“Thank you,” Charlie said flatly.

  
While Ron and Otis, apparently not full from breakfast, ordered popcorn, Sally gave Charlie a confused look. Of course she didn’t know Charlie and Kristie hadn’t talked in weeks. What was she suppose to say? _Hey Mom, my friends don’t want to hang out with me anymore cause I’m become ‘mopey’ and a ‘downer’ because I haven’t let go of my dad’s death._

  
But thankfully Sally didn’t try to press her, instead hurrying after Otis who, popcorn in hand, headed on. He was more excited to see the movie than the rest of them were. Kristie didn’t say anything as Charlie walked away, and that was perfectly fine with her.

.

An hour later Charlie stood outside the cinema’s restrooms with Ron. Sally in the restroom with Otis as her brother vomited up all the junk he had eaten.

  
“Sorry about this, kiddo,” Ron said unexpectedly, breaking the awkward silence with awkward talk. “You probably would have rather hung out with that TC guy today, huh? Your mom told me about him.” 

  
_There was nothing for her to tell because I barely told her anything_ , Charlie thought but didn’t say it. “It’s fine,” she offered instead, flinching at the sound of Otis came from the other side of the door, incredibly clear. 

  
It was like Ron to try and be Charlie’s friend, he had tried to be her friend the first day they met. And while he wasn’t rude he was… _aggravating_ and, to her, seemed to entitled. He waltzed right into their house, acting like he could replace her dad and the way both Sally and Otis treated him like he had done exactly that…It made Charlie’s insides burn. 

  
“What’s going on outside?” Ron’s voice suddenly asked.

  
Charlie followed his gaze to see outside of the cinema where a group of people had gathered and were pointing up at something in the sky.

  
Partly curious, partly wanting to get away from Otis throwing up two platefuls of chocolate chip pancakes, Charlie walked away ignoring Ron who suggested they wait until her mother and brother left the restroom.

  
Stepping outside Charlie looked up to the sky and her jaw dropped in horror.

  
A very familar jet was flying circles in the air, drawing the attention of the crowds.

  
“Isn’t that jet a little too close to the ground?” one woman asked with slight concern.

  
“Must be for a movie shoot,” someone offered, unbothered.

  
But Charlie was _incredibly_ bothered. What was Thundercracker _thinking_ , putting on a show like that? People could realize that that wasn’t a normal jet!

  
Both panicked and angry Charlie glanced back to the cinema, seeing Sally and Otis stepping out of the restroom, then booked it down the street. But before she got before she nearly crashed into somebody.

  
“Sorry!” they both said in unison.

  
“Oh,” the boy said and it took Charlie a moment to remember he worked at the fair too. “Charlie right, what are-”

  
“I really have to go sorry,” Charlie spoke so quickly it was practically one word. She ran around the boy and continued down the street, glancing up at the jet and waving her arm frantically.

  
To the crowds they’d assume she was just waving, the same as other people on the street were doing. But Charlie hoped that she could catch Thundercracker’s attention and he would follow her away from town and back to isolated safety. 

.

Thundercracker had made the decision that if he had to sit around doing nothing for any longer, he would literally short-circuit. And then he realized that, as long as he stayed in jet-form, then it wouldn’t hurt to fly around, stretch his wings, and get a look around town.

  
Maybe he would even see Charlie.

  
It was that thought that convinced him to transform and shoot up into the sky. 

  
Thundercracker didn’t remember much about his past or himself, but he could tell he belonged in the sky. He found himself doing spins and twists in the cover of the sky, absolutely exhilarating. 

  
He was in such a good mood, and so impressed with himself, Thundercracker found himself flying toward town. Wondering if he would spot Charlie in the masses.

  
 _Oh I hope so!_ He thought with an incredible sense of excitement. _She’s going to be so impressed!_


	5. Chapter 5

Charlie, had led Thundercracker to the nearby beach because she had no idea where else to take him, her uncle’s scrap yard was too far away.   
She stood in the sand, dull waves washing against the shore and waited, chest racked with pants as she watched him plummet toward the earth toward her.

  
For a half a moment Charlie panicked that he was going to crash-bur then he transformed into his robot form in one smooth motion. “Charlie, did you see me?” he called from the sky before landing in the sand, “What’d you think?”

  
Charlie couldn’t answer immediately, too busy coughing up sand from Thundercracker’s landing. The impact of him hitting the beach left sand on her tongue and hair but thankfully not her eyes.

  
“Whoops,” he said, his voice cracking slightly in amusement. “Sorry. Here let me help you.” 

  
He knelt down and started to roughly dust her hair, sand pouring down on her face. She glared up at his expression that was both apologetic and amused at the same time.

  
“Alright, alright, that’s enough,” she waved his hand away. 

  
He grinned and she caught her heart tripping over itself. “My flying is good, but I think I still need to work on my landing.”

  
“Yeah, maybe,” Charlie began then started. “Wait! That’s why I’m here! Your flying!”

  
His smiled widened and his straightened his spine, clearly proud of himself. “Pretty cool, huh?”

  
“No!” she exclaimed, then added more gently after seeing him flinch. “Thundercracker, you can’t fly over towns like that.”

  
“I can’t?” he titled his head. “Why?”

  
“Because regular jets don’t do that,” she explained. “Luckily for you, everyone thought you were part of some movie being shot. But if you keep pulling stunts like that, people are going to get suspicious and then the army or government will be called and they’ll find you at the scrap yard and then-”

  
“I’ll shoot them.”

  
“-they’ll… _what_?”

  
Thundercracker held up his arm, his fist pointed skyward, and Charlie watched as a futuristic blaster slipped out of his arm. “I discovered this last night after you left. Watch.” 

  
He then pointed the blaster out toward the vast gray ocean and a red laser-an actual _laser_ -shot out of the blaster and zoomed over the ocean to disappear into the distance.

  
“Ta-da,” he waved his hands dramatically.

  
“Does the laser disintegrate?” Charlie asked, still staring out into the ocean. “Or is it going to keep going until it hits something?”

  
Thundercracker’s smile fell, he looked at the ocean, back at his blaster, then back to the ocean again. “Huh.”

  
“Thundercracker,” Charlie went on, turning back to him. “You can’t shoot at humans.”

  
“Not even if they threaten me?”

  
“They _shouldn’t_ be threatening you because they _shouldn’t_ see you,” she insisted. “Please…I know it’s boring but please don’t fly anywhere without asking me first. Please, for me?”

  
He only hesitated a moment before the blaster disappeared into his arm, “Okay, I promise.”

  
“Thank you,” she smiled at him, he smiled back. Her heart fluttered. “But uh, why _were_ you flying around like that?”

  
“I wanted to-” he stopped all of a sudden, his expression become flustered and he turned his eyes away, “I wanted to see the sights.”

  
“Just the sights?”

  
“What can I say?” he looked at her, “There are quite some sights to see.”

.

It had been a long time since that day. But it was a day Burns still remembered clearly. Really, how could one forget it?

  
What started as a routine flight had led to jet he didn’t know nearly crashing into him. Suspecting some kind of hostile, (a terrifying thought considering the jet looked like their own) Burns had ordered his men to follow him back to the mainland.

  
Together the squad flew over the trees, keeping their eyes to the sky. All of a sudden the jet burst out from the trees a few miles ahead of them. How did it get under there? And with no damage? What kind of pro flyer were they dealing with?

  
They followed the jet, Burns plan being for them to fan out and surround the jet. Maybe try to make contact…but he had a sneaking suspicion that the pilot of this jet wasn’t here to make friends. 

  
And then, to his and his men’s horror, the robot made a turn over a quarry-and transformed into a giant robot.

  
Burns could only stare dumbly as it disappeared into the quarry, a furious expression on it’s too-human face.

  
Shaking himself out of his shock Burns led his men after it, he had a horrifying vision of innocent people in that quarry, not standing a chance against this metallic menace. 

  
But he didn’t find any innocent people or even an empty quarry-he found two more robots.

  
_How many are there?!_ he demanded, in disbelief and nearly shaking as he watched the two grounded robots fight the jet. It look like a savage battle.

  
“Should we fire?” one of his men called over the radio.

  
Burns gave them an affirmative, they couldn’t let these giant… _things_ leave the quarry. The pilots rained fire down on the three. The two grounded ones immediately taking a defensive stance. Burns eyes widened as he saw the jet lift an alien-like gun to aim direlectly at him. Would he be able to dodge it?

  
But before he could find out one of the other robots attacked it, aiming a painful-looking blow it its head. A human would have immediately died if they got hit like that.

  
But the jet only stumbled and then in one swift motion transformed into a jet and disappeared into the clouds. Before Burns could decide if he should follow it or focus on the two on the ground those robots also transformed-into vehicles-and fled into the tree line.

  
The pilots gave chase but inside Burns knew it was no use. They were gone. For a few fleeting moments he found robots, attacked them, and lost them. But he never forgot them. 

.

Amber sat in the dark of the bus stop, a suitcase resting by her thigh.

  
Her insides burned with righteous anger and her eyes blood-shot. 

  
She had no one to blame but herself really, everyone-including her sister-had told her Roy was bad news, that she would regret staying with him.

  
And now here she was, alone at night at an abandoned bus stop because Roy wasn’t only unsuccessful at not wasting money-he was unsuccessful at sleeping with her sister.

  
Amber leaned against the cold metal bench, once that bus came she’d go home to her parents, drink some beers with her dad, listen to her mom tell her how stupid she was, then go to bed.

  
Headlights glowed in the distance, heading toward her, Amber made to stand up but froze. Those headlights were coming toward her at an alarmingly fast pace, and clearly wasn’t the bus.

  
And it wasn’t alone.

  
Amber sat back down as she could make out through the darkness two incredibly nice looking cars, they would have made Roy drool and call his new ride a piece of trash. For just a fleeting moment Amber imagined herself charming whoever drove the first car, cruising down the road with a man much hotter than Roy, and then rubbing it in his face.

  
She almost thought she was about to get her wish when the fast-speeding car came to an abrupt stop in front of her, the one behind it (a pretty but unusual pink and white number) stayed just behind it.

  
“Excuse me?”

  
She started, the voice came from the tinted black windows and sounded too loud and clear-not muffled in the slightest from the driver sitting in the car. 

  
“Y-yes?” she stammered.

  
“I hate to bother you,” came the incredibly polite reply that was a balm to her wounded soul. “But could you help us, Miss….” His voice trailed away.

  
“Amber,” she replied, staring at the car.

  
“That’s a pretty name,” the driver replied, friendly. “Miss Amber, could you tell us where’s the nearest higher authority?”

  
“The nearest what?”

  
“We’re…strangers to this area,” he explained, a little woodenly. “And we have…information that we need to share. It’s vitally important for the safety of the public.”

  
Amber blinked, she couldn’t think of how to respond to that. And the fact she still couldn’t see who was driving this car gave her a sense of unease, despite how pleasant the voice was. “Uh, there’s the cops…the FBI, I’m not sure what you specifically need.” 

  
Before the voice could say anymore a sudden explosion shrieked through the air, Amber shrieked and whirled around. Yards away she saw a mushroom of fire lighting up the dark sky. 

  
Amber’s jaw dropped, that was where her old trailer was, where she just left Roy.

  
The two car immediately left the road, driving past her and heading straight toward the fire. All the while Amber hurried over to the street phone that sat next to the bench. Fingers fumbling she dialed 9-1-1 and waited for an answer, all the while her eyes staring at the flames and the vanishing cars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Afraid this is one of the slower chapters. But the next couple I'm sure you guys will like!


	6. Chapter 6

They returned to the scrap yard.

  
Her dad had kept a small TV set and a few of his favorite tapes and Charlie grabbed one at random (Raiders of the Lost Ark) for Thundercracker to watch. While he was absorbed into the film Charlie looked over her dad’s possessions. 

  
There were a few magazines for pilots, a few older teen magazines she had read when she was thirteen. The fact embarrassed her now but she didn’t have the heart to throw them away. She could still remember days where she and her dad just sat around, looking through their magazines, swapping them now and then, while sharing a lunch. 

  
There was a few tools and home-made blueprints, most of it useless, only here because of the sentimental value. _Well, sentimental value for_ me, she thought bitterly. 

  
Thundercracker suddenly made a soft startled noise and Charlie turned to see him practically pressing his face into the small television screen. He was completely engrossed in one of the many Indiana action scenes and it was a weird but adorable sight. 

  
She smiled softly, her annoyance at his public performance forgotten. “Enjoying it?”

  
“This guy’s my hero!” he exclaimed, before tearing his eyes away from the screen. His red robotic eyes were sparkling. 

  
“He is?” Charlie came over to stand next to him. 

  
“Of course!” Thundercracker kept turning his head between her and the TV. “He’s just a human-not that there’s anything wrong with that but humans can’t fly or transform. What you see is what you get! But he’s still traveling the world and going on an adventure and fighting bad guys! It’s…inspiring.”

  
“Really?” Charlie glanced toward the TV. She enjoyed Raiders of the Lost Ark but she had never used the word ‘inspiring’ to describe it. “My favorite part is when they’re in London.”

  
“London?” Thundercracker echoed, facing the TV. “Where is it?”

  
“Way across the ocean,” she replied. “There’s a lot of really great rock bands out there, and some really neat sights and…” she trailed off.

  
The robot’s head cocked to the side, “And what?”

  
Charlie shrugged, her throat feeling a bit tight, “My Dad and I used to talk about visiting there, just the two of us.”

  
“Why didn’t you?”

  
“Money was tight,” she replied. “Humans can’t just grab two plane tickets to London and run off. And then he…” Would a robot understand what death was? “He just couldn’t.”

  
Thundercracker didn’t have a reply to that, instead he turned back to Raiders and watched in silence, his face thoughtful.

  
Charlie silently moved back to sit on her dad’s old stool. She felt a twinge of guilt at the thought that she had ruined Thundercracker’s high spirit. But it wasn’t like it was the first time she had ever done that to somebody. She picked up a magazine and leafed through it.

  
“Charlie,” Thundercracker suddenly spoke up after a few minutes of silence, with the exception of the film. “Do you have any maps?”

  
“Maps?” She turned to give him a curious look.

  
His eyes were still on the TV but they were faraway and thoughtful. “Maps across the ocean? To London?”

  
“I think so…” Charlie and her dad liked to collect them. “But they’re back at my house, why?”

  
Thundercracker turned around to face her, a smile lifting his lips, “What do you say we run away?”

.

Charlie returned to her house, the sky starting to darken but energy bursting through her body.

  
“Run away?” Charlie had echoed, “Where?”

  
“To London,” he replied, then quickly added, “But not like forever, just the night.”

  
“How would we get there?”

  
Thundercracker blinked, looking as if he didn’t know how to respond to that. “I can fly.”

  
“Yeah, but-” she slid off the stool, disbelief written all over her body. “You’d fly all the way to London, just for me?”

  
“Yeah,” he said simply. “We’re friends.” His calm expression suddenly turned fretful, “I mean, I assumed…we are friends right?”

  
“We are,” she assured, having felt her heart give a light tip-tap. “But most friends just offer a ride over to the mall, not a ride to a different country.”

  
“Well, I hate to break it to you Charlie but we’re not like most friends,” Thundercracker replied. “…Do you not want to go?”

  
“Of course I want to go!” Charlie replied, “But, that’s a really big favor. What would _you_ get out of it?”

  
“I get to make you happy.” he said simply.

  
And that was enough for Charlie.

  
She stepped inside her house, glad to see everyone hadn’t made it home yet and hurried to her room. She had hidden the map collection under her bed and after a few minutes of searching found the one she needed. She stood up, ready to to race back to the scrap yard (this time with her motorbike), when she passed by her mirror.

  
Charlie looked at herself, her hair a little frizzy, her clothes a bit wrinkled and dusted with a few stray flecks of sand. 

  
Hardly knowing what she was doing Charlie turned and headed into her closet. 

  
A few minutes later she left a note on the kitchen table: _Went to bed early, thanks for taking me out for my birthday._

  
Locking her bedroom door she slipped out of her bedroom window and headed back to the scrap yard.

.

Thundercracker tipped his head when Charlie returned to the barn.

  
“You changed,” he noted in a voice that didn’t give away his thoughts in the matter.

  
Charlie blushed, looking down at the sleeve-less shirt, leggings, and boots. They were the nicest clothes she owned and she had never worn them, never feeling the need to. But she had remembered the outfit when she was in her room and she just…wanted to look nice. “Does it look okay? We’re going on a trip so I just thought-”

  
“Oh, of course!” Thundercracker replied quickly, his tone flustered. “I just, uh-don’t worry about it! Did you get the map?”

  
Charlie held up the piece of paper, unfolding it to show him. The illustrations were small, showing both the continent of the United States and Europe.

  
Thundercracker knelt down, leaning his face forward to examine the map. Perhaps it was because her arms were completely bare but she could feel the natural heat of his body, warming her hands. Noticing that fact made her feel like a weirdo and she didn’t comment on it. 

  
“Charlie, I have something to confess,” Thundercracker said suddenly, making her start.

  
“What is it?” 

  
“I don’t know how to read maps,” he replied. “At least, not Earth maps.”

  
She chuckled, “Well, I can. If you don’t mind me being your navigator.”

  
He looked down at her, his eyes showing an impressed light. “Can you?”

  
She looked away shyly, “My Dad taught me.”

  
“Well, in that case, I hereby name you my co-pilot.” He smiled a smile that reminded Charlie of the slick, charming men she’d see on TV, and she hoped she wasn’t blushing.

  
“Now please step back, Co-pilot,” Thundercracker said, stepping outside of the barn. Charlie watched in awe as, in one quick motion, his body shifted in itself and he was no long a robot but a beautiful jet.

  
She hurried over, excitement making laughter bubble up in her throat as she climbed into the waiting passenger seat.

.

The ocean was a vast expanse of liquid, decorated with the burning stars above and Thundercracker realized he _really_ enjoyed the view. 

  
Almost as much as he enjoyed Charlie’s contagious excitement. He couldn’t help himself in doing a few twists and turns in the air, his tricks rewarded with a shrill laugh that sent delight thrumming through his circuits. 

  
“You like flying better than I do!” he joked, his own voice devolving into a chuckle. “You flown before?”

  
“Never,” she admitted, a smile on her lips as she strained against the seat belt to look out the window. “But I always wanted to-ever since I was a little girl.”

  
“This is your first time flying…” the words didn’t sound like a question, he found himself taking a strange bit of pleasure at being the one to take her to the sky. And he felt like a weirdo for thinking it.

  
“Thank you,” she added quickly. “For this whole thing! I really appreciate it.” Her own voice drifted off and she leaned back, eyes shining as she gazed up at the stars. 

  
They were flying in a peaceful silence when Thundercracker caught sight of a plane, not close to them but he still turned sharply, not wanting to be noticed. And for some reason…the sharp turn that made Charlie let out a breath of surprise-gave him a sense of deja-vu. 

  
He was used to making sharp turns, of avoiding things, of flying at great speeds… But as much as he tried to reach out to the hidden memories, he couldn’t find them.

  
When the ocean below changed to rolling hills Charlie’s jaw dropped. She looked over the map in disbelief. “We’re already here!?!”

  
“I am very fast,” Thundercracker stated proudly. “Now take me to London! I want to see the sights!”

  
“We uh, we can’t go straight into London,” Charlie said regrettably, “You know that right?”

  
“Ah no,” he said in a joking tone. “And here I thought it would be full of giant talking robots.”

  
Charlie frowned worriedly.

  
“It was a joke,” he said quickly. “I’m very funny. But seriously, you wanted to go to London. We’ll do what you want to do.”

  
Charlie looked around their surroundings, her face thoughtful. “Well…when my dad and I talked about it, we planned on going to some concerts. We loved every rock band you can think of.”

  
“Then let’s find a rock band.”

  
Charlie chuckled, “Um, I think I remember reading that the Smiths were having a big outdoor concert just outside of London. But that’s too crowded we can just-”

  
“We’re going to a Smiths concert!” Thundercracker exclaimed and shot forward.

.

An hour later the two friends sat on a hill, secluded by trees but offering the view of flashing lights and a large stage. A large mass of people surrounded the stage, singing and cheering to the band atop the stage. 

  
Charlie sat in the cool grass, absolutely memorized. Sure they were too far away to see anything but the silhouette but the band was undeniably there, she was undeniably listening to them live.

  
She smiled up at Thundercracker who lay on the grass, resting his elbows against the ground. “Do you like it?” she asked.

  
“I think I do,” he replied, his eyes on the concert. “I have never listened to music before so I can’t really compare it to anything.”

  
“When we get back I’ll give you a proper music education,” she promised before turning her attention back to the band. 

  
_Asleep_ started to play and Charlie felt a breath leave her body, this song had been her father’s favorite. It was her favorite too…

  
Thundercracker, who had apparenlty turned his attention back to her, spoke up, “Are you okay, Charlie?”

  
She jolted in place, realizing tears had started to roll down her cheeks. She quickly swiped them away, “Yeah, I-I’m fine,” she began but her throat caught and the words were strained.

  
Thundercracker sat up and leaned over her, “What’s wrong? I thought you were having fun.”

  
“I am, I am,” she quickly assured. “I just…” She looked up at the jet, her vision blurry. “Thundercracker, do you know what death is?”

  
He glanced away, his eyes seeming far away and then he turned back to her. “Yes.” The one word was filled with a weight that Charlie couldn’t even begin to understand.

  
“Well,” Charlie swallowed, “The reason my dad and I didn’t get a chance to come here was because-because he died.” She turned away, pulling her legs up so she could rest her chin against her knees. The soft music still playing in her ears. “He had a heart attack when I was at work and by the time I got to the hospital he-he was gone. I didn’t’ even get to say goodbye.” She tried to swallow again, couldn’t. “The last thing we talked about was coming here, a dream trip we didn’t even believe could happen.” More tears fell. “He’s the reason I always liked jets, and the idea of flying. He used to be a pilot, I wanted to be one too. I wanted us to fly together. You know…in all the excitement I hadn’t considered…” She looked up at the starry sky, emotion thick in her heart. “When we were flying over the ocean…” her voice dropped to a whisper, “I wonder if he saw me.”

  
There was a quiet moment as the song reached it’s last moments, and Charlie suddenly felt warm fingertips pressed against her back. She looked up to see Thundercracker watching her, his eyes full of sympathy and emotion.

  
“I’m so sorry,” he breathed, voice so, so, soft. He held his other hand out, reaching to her, but not touching her. It was hestiant, unsure, but sincere. 

  
Before she could think better of it Charlie rose on shaking legs and wrapped her arms around Thundercracker’s neck, his warmth heaven on her cold skin. She buried her chilled, tear-stained face into his neck and realized then, just how much she needed to be touched again.

.

Thundercracker was as still as a statue when Charlie embraced him. He had offered it but she hadn’t believed she would want it. He couldn’t remember ever being embraced, ever wrapping his arms around someone and holding them close.

  
But that’s what he did now, careful, gently, he laid his hands against her back, his fingertips brushing her bare shoulders and his cheek pressed against her hair. She was so, _so_ soft.

  
And he realized then, as the soothing music came to an end, how much he wanted to be touched. 


	7. Chapter 7

Burns had thought-assumed-he was dreaming when he was told they had picked up a mysterious call, a woman in hysterics insisting she had spoken to talking cars before her boyfriend’s diner blew up. All they had found besides ashes was a single spot of liquid. He still thought he was dreaming when, just a few minutes after, they got a message-sent through wires-it had been only a few words: ****Allies. Autobots. Help.**** And a location in the nearby desert.

Burns sat through the Sector 7 board meeting as they decided their next move. He still didn’t fully believe this was happening even when he lifted his arm, volunteering him and his men to escort Dr. Powell to the location. He hoped to form a positive relationship with these aliens. Burns expected them to shoot them.

Yet he still didn’t believe this was happening. He had waited years for this and he didn’t think it was _this_ easy.

It wasn’t until they reached the location and Burns looked up to see the two robots that had driven away that day.

The white and pink one met his eyes for a second and he knew it recognized him too.

Dr. Powell, looking like a little kid on Christmas morning, stepped out of the line of jeeps and soldiers to stand before the two hulking machines. Burns was quick to stand by his side, giving the two robots a glare through narrowed eyes.

“Welcome,” Powell spoke up, his voice cracking a bit before he cleared his throat. “Welcome to Earth, I am Dr. Powell. I work with Sector 7. We were told you wanted to contact us.”  
The pink and white one smiled, blue eyes deceptively gentle. “We should have contacted you a long time ago, Dr. Powell.”

Burns heard surprised muttering from the soldiers behind them. Out of all the ways they imagined these aliens sounded like, none had suspected the gentle voice of a woman.

“I am Arcee,” she greeted with a respectful nod. She turned to the red robot at her side, “This is my comrade.”

“My name is Cliffjumper,” he greeted in a male voice.

“We are Autobots,” Arcee continued, moving to kneel before the humans. Cliffjumper was quick to follow her lead. “We have contacted you because we need your assistance.”

“ _Our_ assistance?” Burns couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Ignoring the look Powell shot him he stepped forward to scowl at the two robots. “That wasn’t the tune you two were singing when you shot at my men the first time you showed up.” Burns _prayed_ it was the first time. He was terrified of the thought they had been here since before he was born.

Cliffjumper returned the man’s scowl and Burns had to force himself not to take a step back. “ _Thundercracker_ attacked your soldiers. We have no war against the humans.”

“Ah, um, excuse me,” Powell hurried forward, grabbing Burns arm as if to insist the man keep his mouth shut. “Who is Thundercracker?”

“A Decepticon,” Arcee said darkly. “An enemy of the Autobots, and I assure you that makes him an enemy to Earth as well.”

“The one you were fighting that day?” Burns pressed, getting a nod as an answer.

“We had vanished that day,” Arcee continued. “We have been looking for him since that day, and for a long time we could not find a trace.”

“But now…” Powell prompted.

“We caught his signal,” Cliffjumper spoke up. “It was short but we were able to pinpoint that he is somewhere in this area. That is why we need your help.” He looked toward the nearest line of telephone polls. “Your technology is…advanced enough-” Burns knew pandering when he heard it. “That if we combined it with our own. We stand a chance in finding exactly where he is.”

Burns’ brow furrowed as realization hit him, “You want us to give you access to our _satellites_?”

Powell stepped in front of him, “This Thundercracker…would he be a threat to our national security.”

“The Decepticons have destroyed our home world,” Arcee answered. “If we do not capture Thundercracker he will bring all of the Decepticons here and they will bring _war_ onto your planet.”

Burns and Powell exchanged a look. The solider was still weary, just because this Thundercracker was an enemy, it didn’t make these Autobots allies.”

But Powell seemed to already have made up his mind, “If you’ll follow us,” he said to the two. “We’ll take you to Sector 7, and I can talk to my superiors. If all goes well we can work together to find this-Decepticon, and put a stop to him.”

.

Charlie didn’t sleep for long (and those dreams were full of warm hands caressing her skin) before her alarm clock woke her up.

Yet despite her grogginess Charlie didn’t let out an annoyed groan, didn’t even slam her hand onto the alarm button as she did _every day_. And she realized that-she was in a good mood.

So much so she even found herself humming as she went through her morning routine. And she knew she wasn’t the only one who was confused by her humming as the rest of the household gave her not so subtle stares as she fixed herself a pop tart.

“Did you get a good night’s sleep?” Sally asked as she halted from getting ready for work.

“I did,” Charlie smiled at her, making her mom start in surprise. “I’m gonna hang out with TC today, he told me he doesn’t know a lot of music. Have to introduce him to my favorite bands.”  
She walked past Otis, not paying mind to the wierd look he gave her, and entered the garage where she kept her cassettes. Grabbing her favorites and a few miscellaneous ones she headed out, her heart picking up speed at the thought of going to see Thundercracker.

A couple of hours later the two friends were at the beach. Charlie sat on a large, sun warm rock with a boombox playing at her leg, Stevie Nicks filling the air.

And besides Stevie, Thundercracker was in the air. Flying as a jet he kept low to the war, sending waves across the otherwise soft surface as he did circles and turns.

Charlie smiled softly as she watched him, it almost seemed like he was dancing instead of just stretching his wings.

She suddenly jumped to her feet when the jet ducked under the water, disappearing for a second before bursting out again. She let out a sigh of relief, even though she knew he wouldn’t have drowned, and waited until he landed beside her. This time he was careful not to kick up sand in his landing.

“You know,” she chuckled as he transformed, “If you needed a wash, there’s a hose at the scrap yard?”

“Wash?” he ecohed before shaking his head with a laugh, “No, no. I just wanted to see what it felt like-the water.”

“Did you?” Charlie asked as she returned to her seat on the sun baked rock, lying on her back. “I figure you’d be scared of rusting.”

“What’s the point of being on Earth if I don’t experience it?” he asked.

A shadow loomed over Charlie and she opened her eyes as a splash of salt water hit her cheek. Thundercracker loomed over her, an excited smile on his face. “There’s so much stuff. You have all these different kinds of music, you have this giant ocean that would take me weeks to travel all over, those amusement parks you told me about. And there’s even more things!” He looked at her beseechingly, “You’ll show me more?”

Charlie smiled at him, hardly aware of the way her lips softly turned up. “Of course I will.”

He smiled again, looking ecstatic, before turning back to the ocean and returning to his flight.

Charlie sat up before he got to far, “What do you think of the music?!”

“Keep playing it!” he called before he was once again in the sky.

His words made Charlie pause. It had been a long time since someone had listened to her music and enjoyed themselves. It wasn’t Sally’s thing, and she had lost her friends so she would find herself listening to music by herself. But she didn’t have to do that now, Thundercracker liked her music too.

“I’m being ridiculous,” she muttered to herself as she turned up the volume. But that fact didn’t ruin the smile that pressed against her warm cheeks.

.

Memo carried the cardboard box of junk under his arm, walking across the street and hoping he didn’t look as jittery as he felt.

He knocked on the Watson’s door and took a step back as it opened.

He had hoped it would be Charlie Watson, the pretty girl that worked at the amusement park like him and who he thought would be cool to hang out with-if she wanted.

But instead her mother answered the door and he realized he had to do what he came here to do.

“Hello,” Sally greeted kindly. “You’re Memo, right? From next door?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, fixing his grip on the box of random items. “My mom sent me over. She said family owns a junk yard?”

“My uncle does, but he’s out of town right now,” Sally answered, then looked at the box. “Did you need to drop those off?”

“Yes,” Memo said quickly. “They were taking up space. But if he’s not in town we can wait.”

Sally pursed her lips in a thoughtful manner. “Well, if you don’t mind the walk I can give you directions to the scrap yard. Charlie, my daughter, is uselessly up there. She can help you find a place for the box.”

The mention of Charlie immediately made Memo brighten, “No problem at all, Mrs. Watson.”

.

Thundercracker sat in the barn, his body heat having dried him off from his short swim. Charlie sat against his leg, her eyes closed and her head leaned back against him. Music she called ‘Pink Floyd’ filled the room.

He was listening to it, but his eyes stayed on Charlie. With her eyes closed he was free to watch the way her chest rose and fell as she breathed, her finger tapping against his foot in tune to the music. He took in way some of the strands in her hair were darker than others, took in the length of her legs and arms. She was…different from other humans, as in he didn’t want to look at them the way he looked at Charlie. That night when they listened to the concert, there had been hundreds of humans to look at but his eyes had kept straying back to her. He liked how she smiled and how her head bobbed as she listened. But he had his doubts she’d liked the way he kept looking at her.

The thought made Thundercracker turn his head to absentmindedly look to the closed door, feeling uncomfortably flustered.

Charlie would probably think he was weird how he watched her. Maybe if he wasn’t a giant robot but…

But those concerns immediately left his mind when he saw the barn door suddenly slide open and a human stepped in, his eyes on a box in his arms as he struggled not to drop it.

Things happened very quickly:

First, the human male spoke: “Hey, Charlie? Sorry, your mom-”

Then, he looked up and saw Thundercracker. Charlie let out a yip of surprise and jumped to her feet, giving Thundercracker the opportunity to transform into a jet. He knew this human had already seen him, but he panicked.

And finally, without even a sound, the now wide eyed human dropped the box and turned on his heel, moving to walk back outside.

“Wait, stop!” Charlie bolted forward, able to run past him and slammed the door before he could escape. “Please don’t leave.”

The human stopped, his legs shaking and quick breaths escaping his body.

“ _Please_ don’t panic.” Charlie insisted, grabbing his arm and gently leading him to the one seat in the barn, the one at the table Thundercracker wasn’t allowed to be near.

He liked to think it was only because his thoughts had recently been on it, but the jet felt an uncomfortable stab at seeing Charlie let this human sit in her private area. She also still had her hand on his shoulder, the other hand patting his arm in a comforting manner, and it seemed completely unnecessary to Thundercracker.

“That was-” the stranger gasped. “The jet it-robot-am I dreaming?”

“No, it’s…” Charlie seemed to struggle on what to say next. “What’s your name. I’m Charlie.”

“I-I’m Memo,” he answered, glancing at her before turning his gaze back at Thundercracker who had not returned to robot mode. “We’re neighbors.”

“Oh, right we are,” Charlie nodded, recognition lighting up her eyes. It was dumb, but Thundercracker didn’t like _that_ either. Were they friends? No, they just had to introduce themselves. But he _did_ live much closer to her…

“Listen, Memo,” she began. “This is Thundercracker.” She indicated to the jet. “And he’s a giant robot that can transform into a jet. I know that’s crazy but he’s actually really sweet and is a good friend of mine.” Unbeknownst to the humans Thundercracker preened at her words. “And I need you not to tell anyone he’s here. Or that he exists.”

“It’s…” Memo stumbled over his words. “It’s a _giant robot_.” He spoke as if Charlie wasn’t processing that fact.

“Yes, I know,” she nodded, panic starting to light up her features. “But I still need you to keep him a secret, and if you don’t I’ll-” she struggled for words. “I’ll have him step on you.”

“I’d do it too!” Thundercracker spoke up, only to feel himself shrink under Charlie’s glower.

The clumsy threat seemed to have snapped Memo out of his hysteria and he looked at the two with a disbelieving look. “Wow,” he said flatly.

Thundercracker would admit that was a hilarious response to being threatened.

“Sorry,” Charlie apologized. “I just, I don’t want anything bad to happen to him. And you’d feel the same if you get to know him.” She turned to Thundercracker, “Transform, say hi.”

When the jet hesitated Charlie gave him a droll look, “He’s already seen you, Thundercracker. And he’s not going to just forget.”

With a mental eye roll Thundercracker transformed back into robot mode, standing up and giving Memo a wary look.

“Hi,” Memo waved awkwardly, his voice slightly strained.

Thundercracker returned the wave, his eyes on Charlie’s hand that was still resting on his shoulder. “ _Hi_.”

.

He flew high above the clouds, staying out of sight of the organic creatures below. They were primitive, but he was told they were dangerous and he needed to stay out of sight. At least until it was time to set the plan into action.

His spark was humming with excitement, but not for the plan, or for even being on a brand new planet that would soon be his own. No, it was for a completely different reason.

“You’re here,” he breathed. “I’ve _found_ you!”


	8. Chapter 8

Thundercracker flew low over the ocean, the speed sending waves across the green surface.

Charlie sat in his front seat, a smile spread across her face and her optics dazzling in a way he pretended he didn’t notice. While behind her Memo was pressed against the back seat, by his expression he was not having the greatest time. Funny, considering him being here was Charlie’s idea.

After swearing the boy to secrecy Charlie had explained to Thundercracker they should win him over. If the jet could be friends with him as well, it would be much easier to trust Memo not to rat them out. Thundercracker understood her line of thinking, but it was hard to think about being Memo’s friend when the boy stood so close to Charlie.

_Stop being weird_ , he ordered himself.

So, in an attempt to win Memo’s friendship, the two humans returned to the shack after work and Thundercracker flew them to the ocean.

“Isn’t this great?” Charlie asked Memo, looking over her shoulder to smile at the boy.

“Sure is,” Memo said, his voice strained. “Definitely don’t feel like throwing up my breakfast.”

“Do that and I throw you into the ocean,” Thundercracker said flatly.

Charlie glared down at the controls and the jet added begrudgingly, “But I’d do it as a friend.”

Memo chuckled, sounding frazzled. “Your jet’s funny, Charlie.”

“A regular comedian,” she replied, leaning back to relax against her seat.

Memo gave her a worried look, “You-you don’t think you need to use the controls?”

“Oh no need,” she assured. “Thundercracker is a great pilot.”

“That I am,” he stated proudly.

Charlie looked out the glass, a thoughtful look coming over her face. “I actually just got an idea.”

“An idea?” both Memo and Thundercracker echoed.

“Yeah,” she stated, unbuckling herself. “It’s not something I can do with a regular jet, even if I had one.”

That statement made Thundercracker ridiculously excited.

Memo watched her as she pulled her legs up onto her seat, “What are you doing?”

“You’ll see,” she said. “TC, do me a favor?”

“Anything,” was his immediate reply.

“Slow down a bit and then open your cockpit, please.”

The look Memo gave Charlie mirrored how Thundercracker felt. He was legitimately concerned she was about to jump into the ocean. But, not having the heart to deny her, Thundercracker slowed his speed down and warily opened himself. Immediately the two humans’ hair flew around and Memo watched with wide eyes as Charlie lifted herself up.

Hair streaming behind her back she threw her arms up and let out an ecstatic laughter. “This feel amazing!”

_It’s like she’s flying_ , Thundercracker thought to himself.

“Memo! You gotta try this!” Charlie yelled out, looking over to the boy with that shining smile. “You can feel the ocean’s spray.”

“No, thanks!” he yelled over the wind, slumming into his seat as far as the seat belt would allow. “I’m good.”

Charlie dropped back into her seat a few minutes later, running her fingers through her tangled air as Thundercracker sealed the cockpit closed. Memo let out a groan as he pulled up sharply, heading toward the clouds.

He flew lazily across the sky that was slowly darkening into dusk. Thundercracker suddenly felt content. He liked flying across the sky, Charlie and Memo with him as the former hummed a song. Whatever he did before he got amnesia, Thundercracker had a sense that he hadn’t enjoyed his old life as much as he was enjoying this.

“Do you see that?” Memo suddenly spoke up.

Pressed against the window he was looking down at a large grassy cliff below, waves crashing against the rocks. Thundercracker could make out several human shapes atop the cliff, clustered in groups with small lights surrounding them, thick acres of trees blocked it from the roads and fields beyond.   
“What is that?” the jet asked.

“Looks like a party,” Charlie said.

“Ah!” Memo suddenly exclaimed. “I heard Tripp talking about it back at the park. A bunch of people were coming up here to have one last party before summer was over.”

“Tripp’s down there?” Charlie asked, giving the cliff a closer a look.

“Who’s Tripp?” Thundercracker asked, proud that his voice sounded casual. Inside though an unwanted irritation pricked him. Why did she say this human’s name like _that_?

“Yeah… Do you wanna-do you wanna go down there?” Memo asked shyly.

“Why would you want to do that?” Thundercracker demanded. Flying with him was much more fun than hanging out with Tripp!  
“It’d be fun!” Memo insisted. “Plus, I haven’t been to a party this entire summer! And since you don’t need an invite…it’s our last chance to have some fun!”

“I’m fun!” Thundercracker whined.

“You are,” Charlie promised. She had been looking down at the party with a thoughtful expression. “I don’t know, Memo…” she ran her fingers through her hair. “I kinda look a mess.”

“What are you talking about, you look great!” Memo said.

Thundercracker panicked, “No, she doesn’t!” The words had left him before he realized that had been the exact _wrong_ thing to say.

Charlie looked startled by what he said, and her brow furrowed a bit. “Maybe Memo has a point. We don’t have to stay there long, just long enough to drop by and say hi. Let’s find a place you can land and stay hidden, TC.”

.

Thundercracker watched Charlie and Memo climb up the hill, heading toward the party where Tripp waited. From where Thundercracker stood on the sandy beach, the thick trees kept and high cliff face kept him hidden from the humans at the party.

He felt an uncomfortable stirring in his chest. Charlie was off to spend time with humans like her, one of those humans having compliented her looks-only for Thundercracker to immediately disagree.

_You’re such an_ idiot _, Thundercracker_ , he snarled at himself. So desperate to convince Charlie to stay he ended up calling her ugly! How could he be so stupid!?

_You could have corrected yourself_ , a reasonable voice pointed out inside his head. _You could have told her you think she’s pretty_.

His circuits felt on fire at the thought of admitting that. Absolutely _not_!

_Then you could have told her you didn’t want to go to this party_.

He wouldn’t tell her where she could and couldn’t go!

_She might have given it a second thought if you told her it hurt your feelings._

What do that voice know? It was in Thundercracker’s head! And Thundercracker knew that jet was a complete idiot!

He was so wrapped up in insulting his own intelligence, Thundercracker didn’t hear the sound of jet engines apporaching. Not until the noise came from right behind him.

Before he could react Thundercracker felt metal arms wrap around his torso and a weight knock into his back-nearly sending him to the sand.

“ _I found you_!”

“WHAT!?” Thundercracker wripped out of the stranger’s grip and whipped around, expecting a brawl.

A purple robot, incredibly similar looking to himself, was standing a few feet away. His red optics were blazing with delight, matching the smile across his face. And he also had that same strange insignia on his wings.

Thundercracker gave him a wierd look, his gaze going over the stranger. Did-did they know each other?

“Where have you been, Thundercracker?” the stranger demanded. “I was looking everywhere for you!”

_He knows my name. He knows me!_ Thundercracker felt both anxious and excited. This was someone from the past he couldn’t remember. His amnesia being a fact he wasn’t going to share with this robot.

“You know,” he shrugged, “Around.” As excited as he was, his anxiety spoke louder and that anxiety would not let him admit he had no idea who this robot was.

The stranger rolled his optics with good nature, apparently unbothered by Thundercracker’s vague answer. “Well, while _you’ve_ been out here scouting the place, I had to let Starscream boss me around. He was all ‘Fetch me this, Skwarp’. ‘That’s not what I wanted, Skwarp.’ ‘Give me unconditional praise, Skywarp!’”

He had no idea what this purple jet was talking about-but at least he figured out his name without having to ask. _Skywarp_ …he waited for it to ring any bells but nothing came up.

“Sorry to hear it,” he finally said, not sure what else he _could_ say.

Skywarp shrugged easily, “What can you do? I’m just glad you didn’t get slagged by any Autobots while you’ve been missing.”

_Autobots…? What are those? Why would they want to hurt me?_

“So, how’s the planet?” Skywarp asked, looking out at the ocean before his optics turned up to the sky. “It’s big enough. Has some nice views.”

_You don’t know the half of it_ , Thundercracker thought, looking back up the hill where Charlie had vanished.

Charlie-how was he going to explain this to her? He looked back to Skywarp. Was there a way to figure things out without admitting he lost his memories?  
“I like this planet…buddy.” Wow, he just couldn’t not be awkward today.

But Skywarp smiled at him, friendliness evident in his optics. “No sign of Autobots, then?”

He shook his head.

“Great,” he rocked back on his heels. “That means we can _relax_!”

.

Charlie lifted her chin as she followed Memo into the crowd. Her hair didn’t look _that_ bad, and she had the right to enjoy this party just as much as everyone else.

Plus her other option was to go back to Thundercracker and…his comment had stung, though she felt silly that it had. She shouldn’t have taken it to heart, after all he was a robot, he would have different beauty standards to humans. It shouldn’t bother her.

Charlie looked around for familiar faces, she recognized a few from old classes and work. She flinched when she saw Tina Lark and her posse a few feet away, talking animatedly about something.

Charlie would definitely give them a wide berth.

Memo was looking toward an area where a cluster of people were dancing, a blasting boombox sat atop a table a few feet away.

“Do you-do you wanna dance?” Memo stuttered the question.

But Charlie had spotted Kristie dancing over there was a boy she hadn’t recognized. She shook her head, “No thanks, I’m going to go get something to drink.”  
Leaving Memo to head to the makeshift dance floor Charlie walked over to a table covered in red solo cups. The only drink available was beer, and while Sally would have had her head if she knew her daughter had drank alcohol-charlie was curious.

Besides she was eighteen, only three years before she could legally drink.

She poured herself a cup and took a sip, only to immediately regret it.

She coughed loudly, thumping her chest with a fist and placing her drink back on the table. _Who would ever_ chose _to drink that!?_

“Not up to your taste?”

Charlie turned around, embarrassment making her cheeks hot when she saw Tripp Summers standing in front of her. Had he witnessed her gagging on beer?

She shrugged, “It’s uh-a little too warm.” Not a lie.

He chuckled, “It’s an acquired taste.” He gave her a once over, “You’re Watson, right?”

“Yeah,” she replied, “We shared a science class.”

“Ah, right.” He nodded, “Haven’t seen you at any parties before. What brings you to this one?”

Wanting to play it cool Charlie leaned against the table, nearly knocking her full cup of beer in the process. “Wanted to see what the big deal was.”

He smirked again and leaned against the table next to her, “What do you think?”

She shrugged, “It’s okay.”

“What have _you_ been doing this summer, then?” he inquired, cocking an eyebrow.

She bit her tongue. _I’ve made friends with a giant alien robot that can transform into a jet_. “I’ve been taking flying lessons.” Maybe hinting at Thundercracker wasn’t the wisest thing Charlie could have said at the moment, but she had been overcome with a mighty need to brag.

She ate up the impressed expression Tripp gave her, “Seriously? Like, with planes?”

“Jets specifically,” she crowed, picturing Thundercracker’s jet form. “I’ve been favoring this really neat blue one, it’s so fast you wouldn’t believe.”

Tripp furrowed his brow, “Where have you been getting the lessons? The city?”

“It’s private lessons,” she smoothly lied. “My dad was in the air force and one of the guys under him offered me some lessons. He’s great, handsome too.”

“Lucky guy,” Tripp said, “Getting to hang out with you.”

The sudden compliment startled Charlie, Tripp had never seen interested in her before. She looked over him, while he was undeniably attractive he always seemed too shallow for Charlie. And looking at him now…something made it hard for Charlie to even admit he was handsome.

Someone suddenly called Tripp’s name and he looked over to them. “My public awaits.” He gave Charlie a charming wink, “See you around, huh? Give these parties a chance.”

“Sure,” she lied, waving to him as she watched him go. Call her anti-social but there were too many people she didn’t like at this party.

Stepped away from the table she started to look for Memo. It was getting dark and she didn’t want to leave Thundercracker by himself for so long, not when there were so many people nearby.

But she hadn’t gotten far when a painful grip dug into her arm, bringing her to a halt.

“What the hell was _that_!?”

Charlie swung around, her heart dropping to see Tina and her two minions leering at her. Her face was red with anger.

“What was what?” Charlie demanded, irritation making her sound snappish.

Tina’s glare narrowed, “I saw you flirting with my boyfriend.”

“Who, Tripp?” Charlie’s brow furrowed. “I heard you two broke up.”

Tina’s face scrunched up into a scowl and her two lackeys shared a shock expression, unable to believe Charlie had _dare_ brought that up.

“Besides,” Charlie continued. “I wasn’t flirting with him. If anything he was flirting with _me_.”

The words brought a nasty laugh out of Tina, a few nearby people looking over with interest.

“Oh, sure,” she wheezed. “I bet he was falling all over you and your rat’s nest.” She gave a disgusted look at Charlie’s messy hair, it took all her self control to not reach her hand up and try to fix it.

“If you’re so upset why not go talk to your _ex-boyfriend_ about it?” Charlie replied. “But if you can’t handle him having a five minute conversation with another girl, no wonder he dumped you.”

Tina’s eyes were wide with anger and Charlie tensed. She was half expecting to get her eyes clawed out by Tina’s manicured nailed.

But instead an awful red smile went across her mouth, “Oh, I get it. Tripp’s such a sweetheart. Giving attention to the grungy little girl with the dead dad.”

Charlie flinched, taking a step back.

“Didn’t he die of a heart attack?” Tina asked innocently. “I’m surprised. If you were my kid I would have jumped off a bridge the day you were born.”

With the shrill laughter of Tina’s minions scraping against her ears Charlie turned around, nearly smacking into Memo.

By his expression he had heard the whole thing, “Charlie-”

“I’m leaving.” She walked around him and made a beeline for the trees. A few people who had witnessed the confrontation let out jeers, telling her not to flirt with peoples’ boyfriends, telling her to learn to take a joke.

Her dad dying was a _joke_.

Tears were falling down her face as Memo ran after her.

“I’m so sorry,” he apologized as he followed her. “I shouldn’t have made us go.”

“It’s fine,” she lied. Her throat felt like sandpaper.

Memo still kept apologizing though, assuring her that Tina and her friends were creeps, that he would never have made her go if he knew they would have said that-until he nearly collided with Charlie who had came to a halt.

“Why’d you stop-” his voice came to a tumbling halt.

Charlie was staring wide-eyed at the beach where they had left Thundercracker. The jet was still there, but he wasn’t alone.

The purple robot noticed her before Thundercracker, jumping in place before narrowing his red eyes. “We’ve been spotted.”

Thundercracker turned around, his own eyes widening when he saw the two. “You’re back already?” his voice was slightly panicked.

“You know these two humans, Thundercracker?” the jet asked while the blue robot hurried over to Charlie and Memo.

“This is Charlie,” Thundercracker introduced, indicating to her. “And this is Memo.”

The latter leaned toward Charlie. “There’s another robot,” he whispered as if she hadn’t noticed.

“Who’s your friend, TC?” Charlie asked, her own voice slightly off.

“His name is Skywarp,” Thundercracker told her. The purple jet was walking over, kneeling down to get a closer look at the two humans. Charlie kept herself from stepping back, Thundercracker was one thing, but this Con’s glare looked less friendly.

Skywarp spent a few silent moments looking between the two stone-still humans, Thundercracker looked anxious behind him. The only noise was the party uphill.

“Oh!” Skywarp said, so suddenly and so loudly both Charlie and Memo jumped. “I get it. You got yourself some human pets.”

Charlie and Memo exchanged a confused look, then glanced over Skywarp’s shoulder to Thundercracker. The blue jet shrugged helplessly.

“Yes…” Charlie finally said. “I’m his….we call it companions. I’m his companion.”

“Aww, precious,” Skywarp cooed, talking to her the way her mom talked to Conan. He suddenly leaned even closer to her, his face nearly smashing into Charlie’s own.

“What are you doing, stop that,” Thundercracker rushed forward and grabbed Skywarp, pulling him away from the two humans.

“You’re not a very good pet owner,” Skywarp said, turning to the blue jet with a disapproving look. He pointed at Charlie, “This one’s done gone and sprung a leak.”

Charlie jolted in place and pressed a hand to her cheek, feeling the dampness of her tears.

Thundercracker looked to her and concern washed over his features. Now he was the one kneeling down in front of the two, his hands reaching out as if he wanted to touch Charlie but didn’t. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” she quickly wiped her face. “I was just crying. Humans cry all the time.”

But Memo stepped forward, “Tina-she’s the _worst_ -made fun of Charlie’s dad.”

Thundercracker’s eyes widened as he looked at Memo, he turned back to Charlie. “But your dad, you said he…”  
“That doesn’t stop some people from being awful,” Charlie said with a shrug, trying to sound nonchalant. Her throat still hurt.

A dark look came over Thundercracker’s eyes. “She shouldn’t have said that.”

An icy chill went down Charlie’s spine at his tone. It sounded like a threat.

“Don’t worry, you two,” Memo said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I know the perfect revenge.”


	9. Chapter 9

Skywarp’s optics lit up with newfound interest and he leaned over Thundercracker’s shoulder. The blue jet found it at little disconcerting that the stranger was so casual about physical contact with him.

_But as far as he’s concerned we’re_ not _strangers,_ Thundercracker had to remind himself.

“Revenge, you say?” Skywarp asked Memo who took a full step back when the robot got too close. “I didn’t think you humans would know of such a concept.”

Charlie’s brow furrowed, it was clear that the more Skywarp talked the more insulted she felt. “Why’s that?”

“You are completely helpless creatures,” Skywarp explained in a matter of fact tone. “No weapons, horrifically small, I assumed that when faced with a threat you just fell onto your backs and went offline.”

The two humans stared at him and Thundercracker felt a wave of second-hand embarrassment. “Humans are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves,” he told the other robot.

Skywarp sent him a knowing look with a smirk to match, as if he thought Thundercracker was only patronizing the humans.

“Alright then,” he said, turning back to Memo. “You’re capable, how will you kill this Tina human?”

“ _KILL HER_!?!” Charlie and Memo balked in unison.

“No, no, no,” Memo quickly shook his hands as if shooing away the words. “That’s not the kind of revenge I mean!” He looked to Charlie, his thoughts clear as day on his face: _we’re talking to a giant_ murderous _robot._

Charlie in turn looked up at Thundercracker, looked just as worried but hiding it a little better. Thundercracker only gave a slight shrug.

If he was being honest he didn’t particularly see the problem with getting rid of a human who thought it acceptable to mock Charlie’s dad. But he knew Charlie had an aversion against killing.

At Memo’s words Skywarp looked much less interested. “Oh.”

“No, ya see…” Memo continued, awkward. “When humans like us mean revenge we usually mean TPing somebody’s house or-”

“Does that mean destroying her house?” Thundercracker couldn’t help but ask, excitement was now burning in his spark. If no one was _in_ the house it wouldn’t hurt to blow it up.

“No,” Charlie said firmly. At the same time Memo finished- “Or egging their car.”  
“Oh, _please_ tell me egging is some human slang for setting something on fire!” Skywarp spoke up, then released an arrogant snort. “That would be so easy it wouldn’t even be fair.”

“ _No_ ,” Charlie said, sounding both exasperated and high-strung.

Skywarp frowned before turning back to Thundercracker, “Your p- _companions_ clearly don’t know how to have any fun.”

Memo raised his hand to get the two robots’ attention, “Maybe it be better if I just show you.”

.

With the help of the large forestry, Thundercracker and Skywarp were able to stay hidden as they crouched alongside Charlie and Memo.

The four were looking out into a grassy clearing several yards away from the out of sight party, where the party-goers had parked several cars. Thundercracker couldn’t help feeling a sense of nervousness at the sight of the vehicles, though he couldn’t place why.

“Okay,” Memo began from where he stood in front of the two robots. “Here’s what we do-” He held up one of the human items he had gotten minutes earlier. It was white and small and shaped like a cylinder. “We take this-and we throw it at Tina’s car.”

He turned and slung his arm out, the white cylinder arcing across the sky before landing atop a car that could only be Tina’s. The strange cloth draped across the car before rolling onto the ground.

Memo and Charlie turned to the robots with an expectant look.

Thundercracker couldn’t help himself, “That’s _it_?” That wasn’t revenge it was an inconvenience.

Charlie shrugged, not getting his frustration. “It’d be much more mystifying if we could TP her house but…”  
“Even at night I think people will notice two giant robots,” Memo finished. 

Memo, startled, offers one of the cylinders to Skywarp, but instead of accepting it the robot grabbed the large pile at the humans feet. With a mischievous smirk Thundercracker tossed it with such force that the pack of cylinders flew up into the sky, disintegrating into the night sky. 

Memo, Charlie, and Thundercracker stared, none of them having expected Skywarp to do that.

But the purple jet let out a delighted laugh, “I like this human-style revenge. What’s next.”

He dropped to his hands to leer over Memo who nearly fell down in response. “Anymore of this TP?”  
“Uh…no,” Memo replied. “You kinda threw it all…into the sky. But here”- he knelt down and held up a small box, revealing it to contain tiny oval shapes.

Skywarp eargerly reached out to grab it but Thundercracker stopped him, “Let Charlie have a turn. It’s her revenge.”

Charlie smiled at him and Thundercracker’s spark flipped.

The two robots watched as she picked up one of the small ovals. Carefully aiming it, it flew across the air to hit a window of the car. On impact it smashed, strange fluids running down the vehicle.

Thundercracker titled his head while Charlie and Memo let out ecstatic noises and bounced on their feet. He glanced to Thundercracker who was practically thrumming with excitement. 

“Me next, me next!” Without asking for permission he grabbed both boxes of the ovals and, keeping his head under the tree line he tip-toed over to the pack of cars.

“What is he doing-what is he doing!?” Charlie balked, Memo’s own jaw having gone slack.

“Don’t worry I’ll get him,” Thundercracker hurried forward, reaching Skywarp’s side.

The purple robot had slammed all of the ovals into the roof of the car, smothering the gross looking liquid across its surface. He looked up at Thundercracker with a dazzle in his optics, “I take it back! This is so much more funner than just killing this human.”  
Thundercracker gave the car a disgusted look, “It’s hardly revenge though. This human _hurt_ Charlie, this-this isn’t enough.”

Skywarp shook his hands to knock the droplets of liquid off. “Then do something about it.” He straightened up and gave him a smirk. “The Thundercracker I know knew how to get his feelings across.”

The blue jet narrowed his optics at the robot. And then, without looking away from him, lifted his foot and smashed it down onto the car. It crunched undeneath his weight and a blaring alarm sound filled the air.

“I didn’t mean _that_!” Skywarp gaped in dismay. “I wanted to egg it more!”

But Thundercracker grabbed his arm and dragged him back into the trees. Charlie and Memo looked like their own optics were about to fall out of their heads.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,” Memo said as the two robots reached them. They could hear the loud noises of approaching humans. Thundercracker, panicked, and grabbed Charlie and Memo, leading Skywarp down to the water and into the sky.

.

Thundercracker, now in jet form, flew above the water. His audio receptors were listening to Skywarp’s disgruntle whining, and Charlie’s laughter.

“You _ruined_ the revenge!” Skywarp whined, flying next to him. “We could have TP’d and egged that car to _death_! But now we can’t because you crushed it!”

“You said I knew how to get my feelings across,” Thundercracker said lightly, not bothered by the jet being upset.

“I didn’t mean ruin _my_ fun!”

But Thundercracker’s attention moved back to Charlie, delight in his chest as he listened to her laugh.

“I can’t believe-” she gasped between laughs- “You crushed her _car_!”

“Ah, Tina’s rich,” Memo shrugged easily. “She can buy a new one.”

“But she’ll never know what happened to _that_ one!” Charlie pointed out, smiling at him over the seat.

“Well maybe next time Tina will keep her mouth shut,” Thundercracker said, not hiding a note of pride in his voice.

“It didn’t get properly _egged_ though,” Skwarp snapped. “ _That_ she’ll know!”

Charlie covered her mouth to muffle a few more chuckles. When she had calmed herself she smiled warmly at the control panel, “Thanks, TC.”

“You’re welcome,” he breathed.

.

It wasn’t until they landed at the scrap yard did Thundercracker realize, maybe he _shouldn’t_ have led this strange robot into his secret hide out.

But Skywarp was already looking around at the odd human contraptions surrounding them. Watching him Thundercracker thought he looked much too curious and innocent to cause any real damage. And if he did…Thundercracker was pretty sure he could stop him.

“Please be careful!” Charlie called to him, “My uncle will kill-” she glanced at Thundercracker who looked at her with alarm- “My uncle will be very upset if anything gets broken.”

Skywarp waved her concern away, not looking away from the miscellaneous items that surronded him.

“I’ll watch him,” Thundercracker promised.

Memo glanced at his wrist, “Charlie’s, it’s getting late. I need to be heading back.”

Charlie followed him over to the exit of the scrap yard, Thundercracker watched them. He couldn’t hear what they were saying but he took in the smiles they shared, and the way Memo’s optics shone.

Thundercracker felt an uncomfortable sense of dread as he watched them. There was a painful ache in his spark as Charlie gave Memo a friendly pat on the shoulder.

Thundercracker rushed forward, “Good night, Memo!”

The two humans jumped, startled by his sudden close proximity. _What did you think you two were alone?_ The question rang bitterly in his head.

“Uh…good night, Thundercracker,” Memo replied, giving a wave to them both before-with one last glance at them-headed down the hill and away from the scrap yard.

Charlie turned and gave Thundercracker a look, “Remember that part where I said Memo needed to like us?”  
“And he _does_ ,” Thundercracker insisted. He looked over to Skywarp who was still distracted by the junk around him. “I’m more worried about getting _him_ to like us.”

Charlie looked over to Skywarp, a flash of worry crossing her face. “He seems to like you just fine.”  
“We’ve apparently met him before,” Thundercracker replied. “But I don’t have any memory of him.”

“Why don’t you tell him?” she asked.

Thundercracker frowned, he didn’t want to admit it but…he was scared of what Skywarp would tell him. “That might not be the best idea…”

Charlie stared at him for a moment, “Maybe you’re right.” Her voice sounded so heavy he was scared she had read his mind. Or, even worse, he was scared she believed that whoever he was before his amnesia-it was something bad…

“Well,” Charlie said after a moment of silence. “Memo’s mom isn’t the only one who’ll be worrying where her kid is. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Wait,” Thundercracker reached out, his fingers hooking her arm and bringing her to a gentle stop.

Charlie looked up at him, quietly waiting for him to continue.

“About earlier…” he began awkwardly. “When you wanted to go to the party and I said you didn’t look great…”

She snorted, “Thundercracker, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“It’s not fine,” he replied, a little sharply. “I _do_ think you look great!”

Her face suddenly turned red and she turned her head away. “I’m flattered,” she replied in a voice he couldn’t read.

Feeling flustered Thundercracker released her arm, his mind screaming. “That’s all I wanted to say. Good night.”

She gave him one last look, her lips turned up in a smile. “Good night, Thundercracker.”

He watched her go, his head yelling at him for being so awkward and obvious and _embarrassing_.

He squirmed as he stood up. _Maybe I should just go and fly straight into the ocean_.

Skywarp walked over, random items held between his hands. “This place is _so_ weird, I love it!”

Thundercracker looked at him, his admittance on his lips. But before he could admit his amnesia he had a terrifying thought of Skywarp attacking him, his amnesia making him an enemy. That was probably a crazy thought, but something told him to keep his mouth shut.

Skywarp gave him a once over, “But I’m not the only one who loves weird things, it seems.”

Thundercracker scowled, “What does that mean?”  
Skywarp turned on his heel and went back to his treasure hunt. “ _Nothing_ ,” he said in a sing song voice.

.

When Charlie stepped through her house’s threshold she saw Sally walking out of the kitchen.

“There you are,” she said upon seeing her daughter. Her voice wasn’t angry, but did carry a tone of disapproval. “I was about to head to bed.”

“I was hanging out with Memo and TC,” she said honestly. “There was a party over by the beach. We had fun.”

Sally frowned, “Age appropriate fun, right?”  
She thought of that awful taste of beer and smiled, “Totally.”

“Good,” Sally nodded, turning around to head down the hall. Before she did she turned around, “You’ve been hanging out with TC a lot lately.”

“I really like him,” she said, remembering how he had said she looked great. That had made her way more happy than it should have.

“In that case,” Sally said. “I want to you to bring him to the house tomorrow. I want to meet him.”


	10. Chapter 10

Thundercracker sat back as he watched Charlie and Memo brainstorm solutions to their latest problem. Behind him Skywarp was examining the things called ‘boats’, he looked overly suspicious of them.

“I mean,” Charlie was saying, sitting on Thundercracker’s foot. “I thought about saying I _don’t_ like him anymore but my mom wouldn’t buy that. Besides that would mean not hanging out with TC anymore.”

He looked at her with dismay, “We can’t do that.”

She smiled up at him, a tease glinting in her eyes, “No, we can’t do that.”

“Too bad your mom already knows me,” Memo said, sitting cross-legged on the hood of a car. “I could have pretended to be TC.”

For some unexplained reason Thundercracker didn’t feel too bad that that wasn’t an option.

Charlie rested her chin on her fist, “We can say he’s sick but that’ll only work one time. Mom is stubborn and-SKYWARP BE CAREFUL!”

Thundercracker turned around in time to see the purple robot, startled by the yell, jump back in surprise. His hand slapped against the boat, sending it falling over, which then knocked the next one over, when then knocked the _next_ one over.

“Don’t yell at me!” Skywarp snapped, sounding more upset than angry.

“Don’t touch my uncle’s stuff!” she snapped back, sliding off Thundercracker’s foot. “I already have enough problems without you breaking something.”

Skywarp rolled his optics, “Yes, yes, your pack wants to meet Thundercracker and can’t because they’re too primitive. Just use a holoform.”

Thundercracker looked at Skywarp as the jet moved his attention to other items in the scrap yard.

Charlie and Memo looked to the blue robot. “Holoform?” the former breathed, her brow furrowed in confusion.

Thundercracker shrugged, he had no idea what that was, but he had a way to figure out.

“Skywarp,” he turned to the other robot. “Humans don’t know about holoforms. Can you explain it to them? You’re…so much better at explaining it than me.”

Skywarp looked touched by the awkward compliment. “Thank you.” He cleared his throat, “While technically called holomatter, we have the ability to create a holoform of another species. We usually made holoforms for organic creatures, such as yourself, to infiltrate their ranks.”

“Infiltrate?” Memo echoed, with mild concern.

.

A few minutes later Charlie and Memo had brought out her box of magazines and were busy flipping through them. They needed to have a human that Thundercracker could base himself off of.

The blue jet sat a few feet away, letting the two humans decide how best he should look. Skywarp had gotten bored once again and was back to ignoring Charlie’s warnings and going through her uncle’s things.

Thundercracker was feeling a twitch of anxiety, in just a matter of hours he’d be meeting Charlie’s family. What if he didn’t make a good impression? He wanted her family to like him, he wanted them to be happy that she spent so much time with him. He wanted her to keep spending time with him.

“How about this?” Charlie’s voice broke him out of his thoughts.

He lifted his head to see her walking over to him, the magazine open and showing the image of a human.

Thundercracker leaned down to get a better look. To be honest he couldn’t tell if this human was considered attractive or not, not that he _needed_ to look attractive while masquerading as Charlie’s date. The picture of the human was a male that, he assumed, was slightly older than Charlie. His skin was dark and his hair black as pitch and looked like a silky texture, it was long enough to reach his ears. His optics were green. Thundercracker looked from the picture to Charlie, trying to imagine this human standing next to her. Would they match? Would they look like they’d belong together?

“What do you think?” she asked him. Behind her Memo and Skywarp were walking over to join them, crowding around to look at the picture.

“If you like it then that’s what we’ll use,” Thundercracker told her.

Memo was giving it a more critical look, “Why don’t we use one of your teen magazines for outfit ideas? Your mom might be weirded out if TC shows up wearing a pilot’s uniform.”  
“Good point,” Charlie agreed. She traded her magazine for the one in Memo’s hand and started to turn the page. Thundercracker noticed she was moving through the pages quickly, as if she knew precicously what she was looking for this time.

“Here.” Charlie held up the magazine. “Black leather jacket, ripped jeans, white shirt and boots. That’s normal. Do you think you can make a holoform with the pilot wearing this?”

Memo gave her a knowing look and Charlie turned her head away.

“Uh, sure,” Thundercracker replied. “I’ll give it a try.”

Moving away to lean his back against the barn and closed his optics. He pictured the human in the clothes Charlie had picked and focused-a few kliks passed-and then he opened his optics.

He was now at eye level with Charlie and Memo, Skywarp towered over them. Thundercracker glanced around and saw his body sitting quietly against the barn, optics still closed.

“It worked…” he breathed.

He looked down at his hands, they were human, they were so similar to Charlie’s.

He turned back to the three to see Memo starting a slow clap, looking impressed. Skywarp gave the human a confused look before starting to clap as well.

Thundercracker looked at Charlie whose optics were shining as she gazed at him. “Do I look okay?” he asked.

“You do,” she breathed. She stepped forward and carefully placed her fingertips against his arm. Thundercracker felt his muscles go tense under her touch but didn’t dare move away.

“You’re solid,” she replied, smiling up at him. He was a bit taller than her in this human form. He kinda liked that. “I think this is gonna work!”

.

Charlie stopped once again and turned to wait for Thundercracker to catch up.

In his new human form, he was walking with her through the neighborhood but was constantly stopping to take in the sights. Charlie couldn’t blame him, not when she saw the smile in his face as he took in everything around him. She didn’t think the simplest things in life had ever brought her the amount of joy that was shining in Thundercracker’s eyes.

“Come on!” she said, “We don’t wanna be late.”

He hurried over to her side and with him standing so close Charlie felt her cheeks grow warm. She could handle a handsome guy walking next to her, but the handsome guy being Thundercracker who smiled at her like _that_.

“What do I say?” Thundercracker asked as they walked down the street. “Is there any specific things humans talk about when they meet each other’s parents?”

“Well, best not to use the word ‘humans’,” Charlie admitted. “And besides not mentioning the fact you’re a robot with amnesia, just try and be yourself.”

“Speaking of amnesia,” Thundercracker went on. “We should give me some sorta back story, right?”

“Good point,” Charlie agreed, seeing her house in the distance. “Okay, your Dad is a CEO of a…car company, and your mom is a flight attendant. They aren’t home a lot, but they were still able to home school you. You’re very smart. You want to be a pilot after you graduate college. Got it?”

“Uh, sure,” Thundercracker said in a tone that didn’t inspire confidence.

But the two were already standing before her house, where inside her mother, brother, and future stepfather waited.

She took in a breath, “Okay. Let’s do this.”

“I’m excited,” Thundercracker replied evenly.

Charlie smirked, “Right. Well, let’s put on a good show.” Without thinking Charlie reached over and grabbed his hand. It was warm and soft.

Charlie would have immediately pulled her hand away, but the moment she wrapped her fingers around his hand Thundercracker returned the grip, much stronger.

Hoping her face wasn’t too red Charlie led Thundercracker up to the door, their hands still clasped together.

Charlie quietly opened the door and stepped inside, “Mom, we’re-”  
Otis appeared seemingly out of thin air, marching toward them with purpose in his step.

Charlie dropped Thundercracker’s hand, not wanting to give her brother ammo to tease them with. She felt the robot’s new human gaze on her but kept her eyes on her brother. Hopefully she hadn’t accidentally hurt his feelings.

Otis stopped right in front of Thundercracker, who gave the small boy a wary look.

“So you’re TC? What do the initials stand for? How old are you? You look like a biker, are you one? My mom said a lot of bikers are criminals, are you a criminal? _Did you kill someone_?”

“OTIS!” Charlie balked, mortification thick in her voice.

Thundercracker was looking down at the nosy boy as if he didn’t know to respond. “I’m TC,” he finally decided on.

Otis frowned up at him, his eyes narrowing in suspicion as if Thundercracker stating his name was an admittance that he _had_ murdered someone.

Charlie stepped forward, ready to step in front of Thundercracker to protect him from her brother’s crazy questions-when said robot suddenly let out a sharp, unexpected breath.

The two Watson siblings looked at him with alarm but Thundercracker was already walking around Charlie and into the living room. “What is _that_!?”

Conan was lying on the couch, stomach exposed and legs in the air. He drowsily lifted his head when Thundercracker walked over to stand above him.

“It’s my dog,” Otis said, giving Charlie a look that said he already dubbed Thundercracker as weird.

 _I forgot to tell him we had a dog_ , Charlie thought with slight panic rising. _He doesn’t even know what dogs are!_

She hurried over to whisper in his ear, “Dogs are pets. It’s like, it’s kinda like how Skywarp sees me and Memo.” _I think_.

“Oh,” Thundercracker replied, gazing down at Conan with a shine in his eyes. He looked to Otis, “Can I pet him?”

“Sure,” the boy replied, looking a little surprised that a guy that ‘looked like a biker’ would want to pet his dog.

Thundercracker immediately rubbed Conan’s belly, the dog wagging his tail and making an appreciative whine. Thundercracker laughed and used his other hand to scratch the dog behind the ears. In response Conan licked his hand.

“He’s so cute!” he gushed. Charlie felt a bud of affection bloom in her chest as she watched Thundercracker fond over the small animal. After today she might have to take Conan with her to visit the jet.

“Thanks,” Otis replied, looking proud of the compliment Conan had received. He then turned to Charlie, “I’ve decided it’s okay for you to date him, Charlie. Even if he is a biker criminal.”

“Whose a biker criminal?”

Sally and Ron came in from the kitchen, Sally wearing an apron around her waist.

“No one,” Charlie said quickly. “Mom, Ron, this is TC.”

At the sight of the two adults Thundercracker left Conan’s side to stand next to Charlie. His back was rim rod straight and his arms at his side. One would think her mother was a drill sergeant with the way he held himself. 

Ron gave him a friendly smile and offered his hand to him, “Pleased to meet you, I’m Ron. I’m Charlie’s mom’s boyfriend.”

Thundercracker stared at his hand for an awkward moment before he realized he was suppose to take it, his hand shake was quick and a little frantic. Charlie saw Ron’s brow furrow slightly but he didn’t comment.

“Hi,” Thundercracker replied, sounding as frantic as his hand shake.

Sally let out an unexpected chuckle, “I bet Charlie has told you all sort of horror stories about me.”

“I didn’t!” Charlie insisted, though she wouldn’t admit her _tone_ when she talked about her mother could have been taken out of context.

This time it was Thundercracker who offered a hand shake and Sally took it, this time the exchange was much smoother. “It’s very nice to meet you,” Sally smiled at him. “Charlie never stops talking about you.”

“Really?” Thundercracker looked at her, his expression delighted.

Charlie felt her face go hot when Otis added, “Yeah, she never brings boys around. They never wanna hang out with her.”

“Why wouldn’t they?” Thundercracker asked, sounding genuinely confused.

The sincere question made Charlie’s heart flutter and she saw a flash of approval in her mother’s eyes. _Score!_ She mentally pumped her fist.

Otis shrugged, “I guess only biker criminals like her.”

Thundercracker quickly turned to her parents, “I am not a criminal. I want to get that straight, right away.”

Sally let out a laugh, “No, I’m sure you’re not, sweetie.”

“Even if you are, Otis _did_ say you have his blessing,” Ron joked.

Sally gently grabbed Thundercracker’s arm and led him and her family into the kitchen, “Come sit down and get comfortable while I’m cooking. You can tell us about yourself.”

Charlie inwardly panicked. Not just because Thundercracker had be convincing about his nonexistent life. But also, she had no idea if holoforms were capable of eating.

In the kitchen her family was crowded around Thundercracker, for a moment not paying her any attention. Charlie took the moment to slide over to the oven and turn the temperature up a few degrees.

She moved to sit next to Thundercracker only to find Otis and Ron already sat at his side. Swallowing a bit of frustration she sat down next to her mom.

“So TC,” Sally began, resting her chin on her interlaced fingers. “Tell us about yourself.”

“What’s your _real_ name,” Otis demanded, leaning over the table as if in a dramatic enactment of an interrogation.

Charlie swallowed, she hadn’t thought of any new name to give to him!

But Thundercracker smiled easily, “It won’t be that easy to unlock all my secrets, buddy.”

Sally and Ron chuckled softly and Charlie inwardly sighed with relief.

“Well you can at least tell us about your parents,” Sally said.

Thundercracker’s confidence evaporated and it was painfully easy to tell he had forgotten what she had told him.

“I, uh…” he hesitated. “My parents aren’t really…around. I’m kind of a-kind of a loner.”

Charlie looked at Sally and Ron, surprised to see a look of concern and empathy in her eyes.

“Charlie, honey,” Sally suddenly stood up. “Come with me for a second.”

Her mom all but dragged her into the other room, leaving Thundercracker with Otis and Ron.

“What’s wrong?” Charlie breathed.

“Nothing,” Sally said as they stopped in the living room, her voice low. “I just, you didn’t tell me he was an orphan.”

Charlie blinked. “It-it felt too personal.” For a moment Charlie wondered if Thundercracker _was_ an orphan, or if he had family looking for him. She wondered if he had someone _special_ looking for him. “It wasn’t my place to talk about it.”

Sally nodded softly, “I understand. No wonder then, you two hang out so much.”

“Yes, sometimes it feels like I’m all he has,” she said honestly. “Which is kinda scary but, I’m happy too. I’m glad we found each other.”

Sally’s eyes shone with emotion and Charlie took a step back, “Mom, I know you want to say something super cheesy right now. Please don’t.”

.

Thundercracker sat stiffly in the chair, having been left alone with Otis and Ron. He didn’t know what to make of Ron, he seemed nice enough but Charlie had had few compliments to give him. And Otis…Otis seemed a little terrifying, honestly, and he was anxious of the boy asking more weird questions he couldn’t answer.

 _Charlie, please hurry back_.

“So, TC,” Ron suddenly spoke up, making the young man jump. “Now that it’s just us guys I feel you and I should have a talk.”

“Talk?” Thundercracker echoed, panicking on the inside. He didn’t have a talk planned!

“Since Charlie’s dad, God rest his soul, isn’t here to ask you these questions I feel I-as her future stepfather-need to ask them instead.” He leaned forward, an elbow on the table, “What are your intentions with Charlie?”

That…Thundercracker had no idea how to answer. “We’re friends. What-what do you mean?”

Otis rolled his eyes, “He wants to know if you and Charlie-”

“Otis,” Ron quickly cut in. “I think you should wait until you’re older to join into this conversation.”

The boy let out a huff of annoyance before sliding off his chair and followed his mother and sister out the room. Thundercracker wanted to follow.

“Now TC, there’s no need to pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about,” Ron went on.

 _I sincerely don’t know what you’re talking about though_ , Thundercracker nearly screamed in his head.

“I was young once too, and I know that since you’re both teens you and Charlie will want to-you know.”  
_No, I do not. But I’m getting the sense that I don’t want you to keep talking_.

“Oh hell, we’re both mature. You and Charlie will want to have sexual relations-”

_Oh, WHAT!?_

“We haven’t done anything!” he quickly interrupted Ron, feeling hot all over.

He nodded approvingly, “Good, that means you’re responsible. But there will come a day when you two will _want_ to do something and then you’ll need to be even more responsible and-”

“Ron, sir, please,” Thundercracker interrupted again. “I really don’t think me and Charlie are going to do that.”

_Considering I’m a giant robot and she’s not and I have no idea how’d that work and sure I’d be interested but-wait, WHAT WHAT!?_

Thundercracker sat in silence, inwardly shrieking at the direction his thoughts went. But Ron had turned his attention around, loudly sniffing the air. “Is something burning?”

“Oh, no!” Sally’s voice suddenly yelled from the other room and she came rushing into the kitchen. Charlie followed after her and looked toward Thundercracker, he offered her a reassuring smile. _Being in this human body is making me think some-some crazy things_.

Sally bemoaned the loss of the food she had been cooking, “It’s burnt up, we can’t eat this.”

Thundercracker saw Charlie’s shoulders droop in relief.

“It’s okay,” Ron rubbed her back in comfort. “We can just take the kids out to eat.” He looked to Thundercracker, “You’re our guest, TC. Where would you like to go?”

Go? He could go anywhere he wanted right now?

He already had the answer, “Can we go to Charlie’s job?”

Said girl gave him a confused look, “You want to go to the park.”

He nodded eagerly, “I do! I’ve never been there before.”

Otis’s jaw dropped, “You’ve never been to the amusement park!”

Sally’s hand clutched her chest, “Oh you poor baby. Of _course_ we can go to the park! It’ll be fun! We can even have funnel cake for dinner! A special treat!”

While the three went to get ready Charlie turned back to Thundercracker. Alone with her Thundercracker couldn’t help but think of Ron’s words and glanced away.

“You know it’s not a big deal,” she said.

“What isn’t?” he asked, for a moment scared she had overheard the talk.

“The amusement park,” Charlie explained. “Compared to you, it’s hardly anything special.”

“Still,” he said. “I want to see it.”

.

Charlie’s entire focus was on Thundercracker. He was staring around at the amusement park with eyes shimmering and a smile lighting up his face. Dusk had fallen and lights lit up the park, making it colorful and-to Thundercracker-probably fantastical.

She opened her mouth to speak only for Otis to jump in front of her. “TC, come on! I want to show you the best games!”

“Okay!” he replied and let Otis drag him away from Charlie.

She swallowed, feeling embarrassed. What would she have said if Otis hadn’t interrupted?

Sally and Ron stood next to her, watching the two go.

“I like him,” Ron stated after a moment. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders.”

Charlie glanced at him, wondering what he had talked with Thundercracker about when she hadn’t been in the room. She looked to Sally, “Do you like him, Mom?”

“He’s very sweet,” Sally said. “Despite being a leather-wearer.”

“Charlie! Charlie!” Thundercracker called over to her. “Come check this game out it’s so easy!”

“You can send Otis over to us,” Sally said. “If you want to spend some time with TC. But neither of you go too far.”

“Yes, no more than hand holding,” Ron added.

Charlie looked to the ground, hoping a black hole would appear and swallow her up so she could forget what she just heard.

“Come on, Sally,” Ron said, linking his arm with his girlfriend’s. “I haven’t had a funnel cake in ages.”

“You know I’m on a diet,” she told him as he led her away.

“You can have a cheat day! You already look like a model!”

Charlie hurried over to Thundercracker in time to see the game guy handing over a large plush dog that was a neon blue.

“Look what I won!” he smiled at Charlie like a little kid. “It looks just like Conan.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Otis said from behind him.

“Congratulations!” Charlie cheered, ignoring her brother’s offended remark. “And here I thought it was impossible to win the good prizes.”

“I’m just that good,” Thundercracker joked. He then extended the plush dog to Charlie, “Here, this is for you.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Charlie took the offered toy and held it to her chest. Her face felt warm and her mouth hurt from smiling. No one had won her a gift before. “Thank you.”

Thundercracker returned her smile, his eyes soft.

Otis suddenly let out a loud gagging noise, “I’m gonna go back to Mom and Ron before you two start making out.”

“Get outta here, Otis!” Charlie snapped, face flushed as he walked away.

Thundercracker chuckled airily, “He’s a funny little kid.”

“Hilarious,” Charlie growled. “But what do you want to do now?”

Thundercracker turned back to her, “Everything!”

Charlie hadn’t expected one could go through most of the park in just an hour but her aching feet proved otherwise. And while she had become desensitized to the games and rides and music, watching Thundercracker experience it made her chest feel lighter than air. She couldn’t get over how his eyes sparkled, how he laughed with his whole body, how he always turned back to smile at her.

That was her favorite part, how he always looked back to see her, that he was _happy_ that she was beside him. More than once during the rides he had reached out to hold her hand. Charlie never pulled away.

They were in the heart of the park, Charlie leaving Thundercracker to watch a guy juggle while she grabbed some cotton candy. She still didn’t know if he could eat but at this point, she was ready to experiment.

But walking back to him Charlie felt her stomach drop.

Tina Lark was standing next to Thundercracker, her entire body oozing flirtiness. Behind her her two lackies were watching, fluttering their eyelashes, and, to Charlie’s surprise, Kristie was there too.

An uncomfortable sense of jealousy twisted Charlie’s insides before she headed toward them. She could make out Thundercracker’s expression, who looked confused to whatever Tina was saying.

The moment Charlie came into view the blond girl scowled. “Having a date with yourself tonight?” she asked nastily.

Before Charlie could reply Thundercracker turned around and his expression immediately lit up when he saw her.

“You’re back!”

The look of utter shock on their faces was something Charlie would treasure for the rest of her life.

“You two know each other?” Kristie asked with genuine confusion. Charlie had never shown much interest in guys when they had been friends.

“We do,” Charlie said easily and smirked, “How are you, Tina?”

Recognition dawned on Thundercracker’s face and he scowled at Tina’s back, a deadly glint in his eye.

Remembering he was a giant robot with a blaster Charlie hurried over and wrapped her free arm around his, her hip now pressed against his own.

Tina’s eyes narrowed in jealously and her minions exchanged baffled looks.

“This is TC,” she introduced. “We met a while ago. He’s a great guy, you’d like him.”  
In response Thundercracker pressed a smile against her hair and Charlie felt her heart skip a beat, her body burning against his own.

“Oh, I’m _sure_ ,” Tina pulled up a fake smile. “He could have some _fun_ , that would probably be a change.”

Thundercracker caught the barbed comment and looked up, “Wait, I’ve heard of you.”  
Delight and triumph glowed in her eyes, “Oh, have you?”

“Aren’t you the girl whose car got crushed?”

Tina’s jaw dropped at his question. “Who-who told you that?”

“Oh it’s all over town,” Charlie grinned.

“Do you know how it happened?” Thundercracker asked eagerly.

Tina growled through clenched teeth, “No, I haven’t.”

“Huh,” Thundercracker smirked. “Tragic.”

There was a long second where Thundercracker just grinned evily at Tina. And then he turned back to Charlie, “Okay! Ready to go, Charlie?”

“Lead the way,” she replied. And, arms linked, the two left the bullies staring after them.

As soon as they were out of ear shot Charlie let out a laugh, “Did you see her _face_!? Man I wish I had a camera!”

“She was so _weird_!” Thundercracker stuck his tongue out with distaste. “She kept trying to invite me to some place-what’s a mall?”

“It’s a store full of little stores,” Charlie said breezily. “I’ll take you some time, they have a music store.”

His green eyes moved to the cotton candy in her hand. “What is that?”

“You can’t go to an amusement park and not try some cotton candy,” Charlie replied, stretching the cone out to him. “Take a bite.”

With hesitation Thundercracker opened his mouth and tugged a small piece with his teeth. He took a moment to take in the taste, then blinked. “This is the best day of my life.”

.

Not long after the cotton candy had been finished Sally had found the two, telling them it was time to leave.

Thundercracker could have stayed there all night but he had taken note how tired Charlie had looked and obediently followed them out. 

Conan greeted them at the house and Thundercracker eagerly scooped him up in his arms. He liked the squirming little creature. But he had no sooner done that then Charlie had grabbed his sleeve and was leading him down the hall, “Come check out my room before you leave.”

“Keep the door open!” Sally called before collapsing on the couch.

Charlie rolled her optics but Thundercracker’s interest was piqued. He followed her into a room where she placed her plush blue dog on a bed. With Conan still in his arms he turned a circle, looking around at the posters that covered the walls, mostly bands and jets.

“Here’s some of my cassettes!” Charlie walked over to a desk that was cluttered. “Any requests?”

“I like that song that played at the Smiths concert,” he told her, still looking around. A moment later and said song filled the small room with sound.

“I like it too,” Charlie smiled, watching him. “What do you think?”

“It’s my first bedroom,” he replied, “I don’t have anything to compare it to. But I like it.”

Something caught his eye and he placed Conan down. Walking over to the bedside table he picked up a photo. “Who’s this?”

“Oh,” Charlie hesitated, “That’s me and my dad.”

 _So this is him_. He walked over to Charlie and held the photo up next to her face. He looked from her, to her dad, then back to her. He smiled softly, “He looks just like you.”

Charlie’s eyes were glassy, “Thank you.”

He returned the photo to its original place while Charlie shuffled from foot to foot, “So, you had fun?”

“I did!” he replied earnestly. “I had _so_ much fun, I’m so glad we did this! I think your family likes me to!”

“They do,” she smiled. “So, um…listen, Thundercracker.” She hesitated, her smile dropping and she looked unsure of herself.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, stepping forward.

“Do you want to stay?” she asked suddenly, the question nearly one word.

“Stay? At your house?”

“No, I mean…” she hesitated again. “My uncle will be back soon, and we can’t exactly hide you and Skywarp there forever. And I figure you two can just fly away. But…if you _really_ wanted to stay, I could help you find a new place, a place no one goes to. Then we can hang out all the time, I could take you to the mall or the park. You’d love the park there’s so many dogs there.” She looked at Conan who was now sitting on her bed. “But only if you wanted…to stay…with-with _me_.” Her voice had dropped into a shy whisper.

Emotion crept up Thundercracker’s throat and he took the last few steps to stand directly in front of her, he could feel her body heat. He leaned down to speak, his voice just as soft as her own. “I do want to stay.”

She looked up at him and her face was _so_ close and her brown optics were dazzling. “You do?”

He nodded, “I want to stay...wherever you are. I’m happy if I can turn around and see you standing next to me.” He gave her a playful nudge, “We’re co-pilots after all.”

Charlie let out a laugh, her face red, “That’s such a dorky thing to stay.”

She then wrapped her arms around his neck and he was startled by how easily she fit against him. Giddiness made him wrap his own arms around her and lift her off her feet-unfortunately he overestimated his new legs.

The two tumbled onto the bed, Conan jumping out of the way.

“Ah, sorry,” he quickly apologized to Charlie. “Still getting used to all this.” He moved slightly and realized he was lying on top of Charlie and again he was floored by how perfect they fit together.

 _Considering I’m a giant robot and she’s not and I have no idea how’d that work-_ that had been his thought earlier that day.

But now he looked and felt like a human, now he was in Charlie’s room, now he gazing down at Charlie and her optics were warm and sent a shudder through his body.

“Charlie…” he breathed her name and it sounded like a question. He leaned closer, feeling her breath across his lips. “Charlie…”

She didn’t say anything, instead her hands reached up and her fingers caressed his silky hair.

Thundercracker lowered his head, his optics closing, his mouth parted…

A sudden pain whacked him upside the head and Thundercracker was back at the scrap yard, back in his robotic body.

“Sorry about that,” Skywarp said from beside him, the hand that had struck him still in the air. “But you were taking _forever_ -ah!” He let out a shout of surprise when Thundercracker knocked him to the ground.

“What was that for!?” he demanded.

Thundercracker stood up and snarled, “Could you have picked a _worse_ time! I was about to-” he stopped mid-sentence, resting his wrist against his untouched mouth.

“Well, _excuse_ me!” Skywarp jumped up, “But as your friend I was _justifiably concerned_. Did you get any good intel, by the way?”

Thundercracker looked at him, “About what?”

“About any human weaknesses,” Skywarp said breezily. “Megatron would really appreciate that when he finally gets here and burns this planet to cinders.”


	11. Chapter 11

Charlie rolled over on to her stomach and buried her face in the blue plush dog Thundercracker had won for her. She made a flustered groan into it’s artificial fur.

Thundercracker had vanished into thin air-Charlie assumed his holoform had a timer. Which left her alone in bed with the very obvious fact _that they had almost kissed_.

_He was going to kiss me!_ Her face was hot against the toy’s fur. _And I was_ definitely _going to kiss him_.

She recalled the way he said her name, while he lied on top of her and an intense longing pooled in her belly.

_He’s a robot_ , a voice reminded her. It was too easy for Charlie to push it away.

She didn’t care, not anymore.

He was _staying_ , and he liked her. He really, really liked her. And they could spend all day together, all the time.

_We could even try kissing again_.

Charlie smiled against the plush dog, for the first time since her father’s death Charlie felt completely and utterly happy.

.

Thundercracker came to an abrupt halt, staring at Skywarp as if he had grown a second head. “What?”

Skywarp turned back to him, “What, what?”

“What did you say?” he had to force the question out. He didn’t want to hear it again.

“We need to find the human’s weaknesses,” Skywarp said slowly. “For Lord Megatron…”

_Whose Lord Megatron!?_

“You said he want to burn the planet,” Thundercracker breathed out the words.

“I mean, I’m assuming,” Skywarp shrugged. “He wants this planet to be the Decepticons’ new base. He’s not going to want all these humans around.”

“What’s he going to do to them?” Only a few kliks ago he had felt lighter than air and now his chest was heavy with dread.

“Kill them, probably,” Skywarp said with no sense of seriousness. He caught Thundercracker’s horrified expression and quickly added, “Listen, wait until everyone gets here. With Starscream’s help I bet we can convince Megatron to let you keep Charlie as a reward. I mean, we scouted the planet for him. I bet he’ll give Shatter and Dropkick a reward, why not us?”

Skywarp continued to babble on but Thundercracker had gone deaf.

He was a scout, sent to Earth to find out how to kill Charlie’s kind. A wave of nausea rolled over him.

_I came here to kill them… I came here to kill them.._ What if he hadn’t gotten amnesia when he first met Charlie? Would he have killed her? The thought almost brought him to his knees.

And what if Skywarp was wrong? What if this Lord Megatron found them, found Charlie and…

“Thundercracker?” Skywarp was now looking at him with concern. “You okay?” He reached his hand out.

“Don’t touch me,” Thundercracker snapped, taking a step back. He ignored the hurt in Skywarp’s optics. “Where is Lord Megatron right now?” Was he already on the planet?  
Looking slightly frightened Skywarp lifted his arm and pointed up to the black sky, to space. “He’s on the Nemesis right now. Shatter and Dropkick would know the exact coordinates.”

Thundercracker glared up at the stars, his decision heavy and painful. _It had been so perfect_ …

“I want to go find them tomorrow,” Thundercracker said, voice low.

“Uh, okay, easy enough,” Skywarp said. “What about Charlie?”

“She-she…” it felt like his throat was being stabbed. “She’s staying here. I’ll say goodbye in the morning.”

It was too dangerous to take her with them, not that he would ask. He couldn’t take her away from the family that loved her.

_Not for me, who came here to kill all of them. And I won’t-I_ can’t _tell her the truth_.

He had plans to find this Megatron and try to dissuade him from attacking Earth. He’d probably get himself killed doing so. But he had to try. And it would be better than looking into Charlie’s optics and telling her he was a monster.

.

Charlie’s boss kept glancing at her as she made corn dogs and sold them to the park visitors.

There was no mystery as to why, Charlie had been humming _Asleep_ since she clocked in. This had been the first time she showed up to work on a good day.

She was so far up on cloud nine she barely processed when Tripp came over to order food. He must have flirted or something because not long after Tina showed up. But Charlie only sleepily smiled at her, not processing the words that came from her pursed mouth. Charlie remembered the night before when she tried to flirt with Thundercracker and had to hold back a laugh.

Tina left looking confused and irritated.

With no new customers in sight Charlie let her mind drift away with a dreamy sigh. She probably looked like an idiot, gazing nowhere with a twinkle in her eye. But she couldn’t make herself care what others would think. Not when someone as wonderful and handsome as Thundercracker was waiting for her.

Her mind was so full of him that when she saw his holoform in the crowd she was sure she was imagining it.

But then he was heading straight for her and Charlie’s heart jumped to the sky.

“TC!” she gushed when he reached her. “What are you doing here?” Her surprised joy made her voice a little too loud.

His smile was strained and quickly dropped from his face. “I-” his voice was quiet and unsure. “I need you.”

The words would have floored her if her excitement hadn’t kept her afloat. “You do?”

He nodded, “Is there someplace private we can talk?”

“Of course,” Charlie said immediately, throwing off her stupid work hat. She hurried to the back to tell her boss she was going on her break.

“Follow me,” she said, offering her hand. He took it and tightened his grip.

Charlie led him over to a corner sheltered by a few food and game stands, out of sight of the crowds.

“So what’s up?” she turned to Thundercracker once they were out of sight.

He gently pulled his hand away, “I have to go.”  
”Go?” her brow furrowed. “Go where?”

He wouldn’t meet her eye. “I just have to go. And I-I think it’s best if I don’t come back.”

Charlie took a step back as if his words had been a physical blow. “What?”

“I found out some things,” he began, meeting her wide gaze. “And it’s best if I don’t stay.”

“What things?” she demanded. As soon as the words left her mouth the throat constricted.

He gave her a beseeching look, “I can’t tell you.”

“Can’t tell me?” she echoed, her words hoarse. “Or won’t?”

“I _can’t_ ,” he insisted. “I need you to trust me, Charlie. This is for the best.”

“Is it because of last night?” she asked before her mortification could stop her. “When we almost kissed? If you regret it-if it made you uncomfortable I’m sorry! But you don’t have to leave because of it!”

As she said it her heart could’ve cried. The thought that he didn’t feel the same way wasn’t surprising, but it did hurt like hell.

“No, no!” he was quick to say. “This isn’t your fault, Charlie. I just can’t-”

“ _You said you’d stay_!” her voice cracked and Charlie realized she was crying. She tried to rub the tears away but angrily gave up. “You told me _last night_ that you wanted to stay with me. Were you lying?”

He shook his head, “No! Charlie, all I _want_ is to stay with you!”

“Then stay!” she didn’t even care that she was begging.

“I can’t.”

“Why not!?”

“I just _can’t_!”

They looked at each other in silence, Charlie glaring and her limbs shaking. Thundercracker was still as stone, his expression unreadable.

Charlie was the first to break eye contact, looking down at the dirty cement at her feet. Ever since her father had died there had been a yawning hold in her chest. It had gotten bigger when her mom started dating Ron, and when her friends had left her. But the hole had started to fill in when she met Thundercracker-and now here he was, tearing the hole open again.

“What’s wrong with me?” she breathed. “Why do everyone I care about stop caring about me?”

Thundercracker opened his mouth as if to say something, only to close it a moment later.

Charlie forced herself to straighten up as he turned away.

“I have to go,” he said, his back to her.

He took one step forward as if to walk away but then he hesitated.

In one smooth movement he turned around, grabbed Charlie’s face between his hands, and pressed his mouth against her own.

And despite everything Charlie immediately wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer.

His tongue moved against her own, he tasted metallic and yet-not. For some reason he was reminded of stars.

Thundercracker pressed his mouth firmer against her, as if trying to tell her through the kiss what he refused to say with words.

She pulled him closer, their lips brushing against each other. She felt like she was back on cloud nine and she tried to put all her emotions into the kiss. She wanted Thundercracker to know how happy he made her, how he had reminded her how to smile and laugh again. She wanted him to know that she treasured every second she had spent with him. Charlie wanted Thundercracker to know that she loved-

His mouth pulled away and he pressed his temple against her own, the only sound was Charlie catching her breath.

Then he met her eyes and his gaze was completely and utterly broken. “I’m so sorry.”

And then he was gone.

Charlie was left in solitude, blinking several times. She waited for her heartache to overwhelm her, but instead it was anger that consumed her.

Gritting her teeth she glared up at the sky, as if Thundercracker had flown away. Then she bolted back to her job, making her boss jump when she burst in.

“I have to leave work early today,” she said, her voice thick yet sharp. “I have something important to do!”

.

Burns and his men followed the two robots down the road to the small California town.

After what felt like ages of letting the two robots use their satellites (his higher ups had been greedy to have the advanced knowledge the two possessed) and coming up with nothing-they finally got a signal. Two in fact.

“Two Decepticons are on the move,” the red one had said. “It looks like Shatter and Dropkick.”

The pink and white one looked to her companion, “We have to get to them now! Thundercracker is probably with them.”

And now Burns blood was boiling with excitement. It had been torture to have to treat these two robots like an allies. It would be therapeutic to finally get to shoot at a giant alien for once.


	12. Chapter 12

Thundercracker flew behind Skywarp. The chatty jet for once being silent.

He could barely process the flight, melancholy making him barley able to stay in the sky. His mind continued to replay his goodbye to Charlie, his emotion-driven, horribly planned goodbye to Charlie.

He had only gone to say goodbye, unable to just vanish without a trace. But it wasn’t like what he had to say, or what he _wouldn’t_ say, gave her any sort of comfort.

 _She thinks I don’t care about her_ , the thought came with a flash of pain. _But what could I do? Tell her I’m a Decepticon? Tell her I love her? Tell her I-_

He nearly fell out of the sky as the realization dawned on him.

He loved her?

Of course he did, it was so obvious that he couldn’t even feign surprise. Not that it mattered anymore, he had hurt her. And she was going to move on and fall in love with a _human_ and forget all about him-

Sudden pain slammed into his body and with a snarl of agony he felt himself rapidly losing altitude. Skywarp cried out his name a second before Thundercracker crashed into a quarry.

He achingly lifted himself onto shaking hands and knees, his head ringing as sound slowly returned to his audio receptors. He thought he could hear a voice, yelling. Was it Skywarp? Why did he sound so different? And then-

“Did you think you could hide forever?”

Thundercracker’s head shot up, his optics widening.

Two strangers were marching across the quarry, two _robot_ strangers. Their blue optics blazing with purpose. Thundercracker did not recognize them, but cold dread washed over him.

He lifted himself up, ready to take flight again. But the moment he tried to move a blast of energy hit the ground at his feet, the impact sending him back to the ground.

The blue jet scrambled backward, fear lacerating his spark. These strangers wanted to kill him! Why, he didn’t know.

 _But it’s probably something awful I’ve done_.

The two robots exchanged wary and confused looks.

“Why isn’t he fighting back?” the red one demanded softly.

Before his companion could reply ammo fired above them, aimed at the two robots.

“Arcee, it’s Skywarp!” the red robot snarled, dodging the attack as the purple jet flew low over them.

“Shoot him down!” the femme bot commanded before turning around to aim her weapon at Thundercracker. He hadn’t moved an inch.

The red robot took aim at Skywarp, and unfortunately for the jet, this one was a better shot. Despite Skywarp zigzagging through the air, several shots sliced against his wings and body.

Thundercracker flinched, as if he was the one being struck, and he knew neither of them stood a chance against these two.

“Go!” Thundercracked yelled out to his friend. “Get outta here Skywarp, go!”

The jet hesitated, but another blast from their attacks sent Skywarp up into the clouds, out of sight.

The femme bot-Arcee-whirled around. “We can’t let him escape-”

Thundercracker jumped up and slammed into her. He had no idea what he was thinking but this was hardly the dumbest thing he’d done that day.

The red robot rushed over to help his companion but she already knocked Thundercracker off and away. The two robots leered over him, fury and threat in their optics.

“You won’t escape this time, Thundercracker.”

.

Charlie was riding her motor bike toward the scrap yard. She knew there was a slim chance that Thundercracker would be there, but she only had so many options. All she knew was that she needed to find the robot and yell at him, she needed to yell at him a _lot_.

But she had only gotten halfway there when the loud noises of explosions reached her ears. She barely registered before she was turning and heading toward the noises. She didn’t have to guess who the cause of _that_ was.

She realized the shouts and blasts were coming from the old quarry. Charlie jumped off her bike and pushed through the foliage, nearly falling off the quarry’s edge.

Her heart dropped.

Thundercracker, scrapped and dented, was crouching in the shadow of two robots she had never seen before. Skywarp was nowhere in sight.

The red robot was snarling at her friend, “Get up and fight, Thundercracker!”

_They know him! Why are they fighting!?_

Suddenly the red robot slammed a foot in the jet’s face, sending him sprawling onto his stomach.

“ _No_!” Charlie cried out and was frantically scrambling down into the quarry. Her hands and knees getting scraped in the process.

And then she was standing in front of Thundercracker, arms splayed up in a protective pose. She looked up at the two robots with a look that was both feral and beseeching.

“Leave him alone, _please_!”

Surprising Charlie the two took a visible step back, shock bright in their matching blue eyes.

“Charlie!” Thundercracker gasped. “Charlie, what are you doing!? This is too dangerous-”  
“ _Shut up_!” she snapped, turning on him. The jet flinched as she continued. “I am _so_ mad at you right now! Kissing me and then running off? I am _so_ yelling at you later!”

The two robots looked at each other, confusion and suspicion written all over their faces.

Before any of them could say another word a new sound reached Charlie’s ears. She turned around and felt her throat close up. It was the army, driving jeeps and glaring at Thundercracker with unsurprised hostility.

Her greatest fear had come true.

The soldiers were led by a scary looking man, who glared at Thundercracker with unfiltered hatred that made Charlie sick to her stomach.

The pink and white robot reached out to Charlie, as if to pull her out of the soldiers’ way.

Immediately Thundercracker lunged forward and smacked her hand away, crouched protectively over Charlie. “ _Don’t touch her_!”

As if on cue the soldiers shot volts of electricity into the jet’s back. Thundercracker let out an awful, strangled noise, his body shaking uncontrollably before he collapsed onto his side, nearly falling onto Charlie in the process.

She whipped around, tears springing up into her eyes as she saw her friend’s limbs jolting back and forth. “ _Thundercracker, no_ -” she reached out and grabbed his arm.

Pain zapped through her limbs and Charlie lost control of her legs, falling to the ground to lay beside her friend.

With the soldiers rushing toward them and the robots leering over them Charlie looked at Thundercracker. His red eyes were glowing with pain and sorrow. With her arm still jerking with spasms she forced her hand out, her finger tips just managing to brush his own.

And then the world went dark.

.

Skywarp, flew crookedly thanks to the pain.

Reaching his destination he nearly crashed at the feet of the two Decepticons, who looked mildly surprised to see him.

“Forgot how to fly, Seeker?”

Skywarp looked up, ignoring the jibe. “Thundercracker! The Autobots got Thundercracker!”

 _That_ made the two pairs of red optics glow with interest.

“Which one?” the second asked, her voice a low purr.

“It’s-it’s Arcee and Cliffjumper!” he stammered. “I don’t know if there was any others! Thundercracker told me to go so I did but we can’t leave him there! They’ll kill him!” He knew his entire posture screamed ‘begger’ as he looked at his two allies. “You have to help me save him!”  
“Of course,” the second voice soothed. “We’ll do what we can to help dear Thundercracker. But right now you should rest, you will need your strength if we are to fight the Autobots.”

With relief that nearly made him collapse Skywarp nodded, walking away to sit down and give his body a much needed break.

When Skywarp was out of hearing distant, Dropkick turned to Shatter. “Who the slag is Thundercracker?”

“One of Starscream’s minions,” Shatter said dismissively. “I heard him whining about him being lost, looks like the Autobots found him.”  
Dropkick glanced once more at Skywarp, then back to Shatter. “Is he important?” his voice had dropped to a whisper.

“Of course not,” Shatter said, her voice just as low. “You and I are more capable warriors than the entirety of Starscream’s entourage. Still…we should make sure he doesn’t spill any Decepticon secrets to the Autobots, and we should make sure those Autobots don’t have any other friends on this planet.”

Dropkick’s optics glinted darkly, “Do we need to get Thundercracker back alive?”

“I’m sure Starscream and Skywarp would prefer that,” Shatter smirked. “But don’t feel the need to try _too_ hard to keep him online.”


	13. Chapter 13

Charlie came to slowly, and with a groan to match.

She felt the familiar fabric of her blankets behind her, her ear pressed against her worn pillow.

Her entire body had a mild ache and she pulled her stiff arm out from under her stomach to reach out. Her fingers pressing against a familiar felt. She forced her eyes open to see the plush dog toy from the amusement park.

She jumped up, panic sparking through her chest.

Where was Thundercracker? Where were the other robots? She could remember the soldiers, zapping bolts throughout his body. Did they kill him? How did she get home? _Where was he!?_

“Thundercracker,” she choked out the words, her voice hoarse. She had to find him.

She slid off the bed and stumbled, taking a few seconds to get her balance back. Once she had she opened her door and headed down the hall.

She came to a stop when she caught the sound of unfamiliar voices.

“-a threat to national security.”

Her brow furrowed and she stepped a little closer, but being sure to stay out of sight of the kitchen where the voices were coming from.

She heard her mother, sounded distraught, “We met him just yesterday. He seemed like such a sweet boy. He never said anything about his life but I just thought he was shy.”  
“He’s a specially trained spy, ma’am,” the unknown man’s voice continued. “And he took advantage of your daughter to try and get as much information on the area as possible.”

They were talking about Thundercracker, she realized. They were _lying_ about Thundercracker.

Charlie peered over the edge. She saw a man in glasses with a receding hairline sitting across from her mom and Ron, a handful of soldiers standing behind the strange man.

And hanging in the back of the ground, leaning against the wall, was the scary looking man who had been at the quarry, who had hurt her friend.

She rushed into the kitchen- “ _WHERE IS HE_!?”-and ran straight at the man, ready to claw the scowl from his face.

He braced himself for her lunge but one of the soldiers was quicker, reaching out and grabbing Charlie’s arms, holding her back as she kicked and struggled in the iron clad grip.

“Charlie Caribe _Watson_!” her mom gasped as the three adults stood up from the table in shock.

“What did you do to TC!?” she shrieked at the man in front of her. “Where did you take him!?”

  
Sally hurried forward and grabbed her daughter’s arm, her expression was concerned: “Charlie, Dr. Powell and Agent Burns have told us all about TC, how he’s a spy for-”

  
“They’re _lying_!” she turned to snap at her mother. “Whatever they said it’s not true!”

  
“Charlie,” Ron said softly, standing next to Dr. Powell. “We liked TC too, but he tricked all-”

“Stay out of this!” she all but snarled at Ron. An unexpected flash of pain lit up the man’s eyes but he didn’t say anymore. Charlie didn’t want to admit that his words had hit too close to him, remembering their final conversation before he kissed her. _Tricked_ …

“Do _not_ yell at him, Charlie,” her mother said, her concerned expression now stern. Charlie glared venomously at her.

Burns and Powell exchanged a strange knowing look before the younger man took a step forward. “Ma’am, I can get your daughter to understand the gravity of this situation. But I think it’s best to do so, one on one.”

Sally gave him a confused look while Ron awkwardly clapped his hands together. “I have some cold beers in the garage!” He turned to Powell, “Would you and your men like some beers?”

“S-sure,” Powell said, just as awkwardly.

Together the two men led Sally and the silent soldiers out into the garage, leaving Charlie, alone, and glaring daggers into Burns.

He glared right back, “I’m only doing this because the Autobots asked me to and Powell won’t let me hear the end of it if I don’t.”

“What?” her brow furrowed in confusion. “Autobots?”

“The two robots who attacked Thundercracker,” Burns said bluntly. “Yes, I know your pet jet’s name. And I also know more about him than _you_ do.”

“Oh, _do_ you?” she asked waspishly.

“Has he told you what a Decepticon was?” Burns asked in reply.

The word was foreign to Charlie and it must have shown on her face cause Burns didn’t give her a moment to answer. “They’re the robots who’ve come to Earth to _destroy_ it. Your buddy, Thundercracker practically burned his own planet to the ground-and if we hadn’t found him he would have done the same to Earth while you pretended he cared.”

“I don’t believe you,” she said hoarsely. “Why should I believe you and your Autobots?”

“Because the first time he came here he tried to shoot me and my men,” Burns growled. “And…I hate to admit this, it was the Autobots who kept us alive that day.”

Charlie didn’t want to agree with him. But she started to recall their last conversation at the park. There had been something Thundercracker had refused to tell her, something that made him want to leave even when he insisted all he wanted to do was stay…

Burns stepped away from her, apparently ready to put an end to the conversation. “You got tricked. He’s not your friend, he’s an enemy to our entire world. But you don’t have to worry about him anymore, _we’ll_ take care of it.” He was out through the garage door before Charlie could utter a sound.

So instead she stood silent, her brain processing what Burns had told her. She tried to process the fact that he might be telling the truth. _But…he’d never kill me. Rip my heart our sure, but never_ kill _me!_

She couldn’t take the word of Burns, or even these Autobots. She needed to speak to Thundercracker herself, she needed to get to him!

Sally and Ron walked into the kitchen, looking awkward and unsure of what to do with themselves.

Ron abruptly cleared his throat, “I’m gonna go check on Otis and Conan.” And then practically ran out of the room, leaving Sally on the other side of the table, looking at her daughter.

“Charlie…” she began.

“I don’t believe them,” Charlie interrupted, resolute.

Sally’s shoulders drooped as is she had given up, “Charlie, I know you liked him but he’s _dangerous_. You can’t-”

Charlie whirled on her, “I _still_ like him! Mom, he’s the most important thing that’s happened to me!”  
Sally looked horrified but then held herself in her stern mom pose, “That’s enough, Charlie. This wasn’t some bad boy he was a _criminal_. He would have dragged you into nothing but trouble or worse. You can just hang out with your old friends and be thankful no one’s treating you as liable.”

“Old friends?” Charlie echoed with a humorless laugh. “Like who, Kristie? I hate to break it to you, Mom, but Kristie and I haven’t talked in weeks. She got tired of me just like you!”  
Sally pulled back as if she had swung at her. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that you, my friends, Otis, your boyfriend- _none_ of you could stand that I can’t brush my father’s death away! Kristie thought one year was enough to get over the fact I didn’t get to say goodbye to the one person who understood me! She was _tired_ of me grieving! And all the other kids treat the whole thing like a _joke_! And you aren’t any better, you were so happy to meet Ron and forget Dad even existed!”

“That’s not true…” Sally breathed too quietly, her eyes glassy.

“Yes it is! And now you could care less about me! You were more upset that I yelled at Ron then the fact those guards electrocuted me!”  
“They what-”

“But hey, I get it! Ron is your new happy, _perfect_ life and Otis is more than happy to join you! But because I can’t move on like he never existed I know you can’t _wait_ until I’m out of here for good so I don’t _ruin your good mood_.” Furious tears were burning her cheeks, her throat was in agony and her chest hurt but she wasn’t done yet. “I was _miserable_ , leaving this stupid town was the only thing that made me happy. But then I met TC and you know what, _he_ likes me, he liked spending time with me and when I was upset about Dad he understood and _supported_ me which is more than you’ve done in months!”

“Charlie-” her mom’s voice broke into a sob but Charlie was already turning her heel and heading toward the hall.

“You can go back and pretend none of this happened, Mom! You can go back to your _great_ , _happy_ life! But don’t expect me to be a part of it!”

She stomped down the hall, and slammed her bedroom door behind her, being sure to lock it. Then she fell onto her bed, buried her face in her new plush dog, and cried her eyes out.

.

Thundercracker came to quickly, with a gasp to match.

The first he noticed, besides the less than mild aches and pains that riddled his body, was that his hands were bound in front of him. They were connected to a large and heavy chain that was connected to the cement ground beneath him-and he had his doubts he could break through it.

Not that he wound, considering his two captors were standing in front of him, weapons aimed at his head.

“You’re finally up,” the one called Arcee remarked.

Thundercracker looked at them, and then remembered Charlie with a jolt.

“Don’t try anything!” the red robot warned as Thundercracker struggled against his restraints, looking wildly around.

He looked to be in the yard of some base, tall fences and stone gray buildings. He vaguely recalled spotting this area during that first flight over the town, that felt like ages ago.

“Where’s Charlie!?” he snarled at the two, “If you hurt her, I swear-”

“If _we_ hurt her?” the red bot interrupted with snark. “That’s rich coming from _you_.”

“Charlie was taken home,” Arcee said calmly. “Where she will be safe. Though the fact you care for her well being is something I’m curious about. Why do you care?”

“She’s my friend,” Thundercracker said, his voice warbling with emotion.

The red robot glared at him, “Decepticons don’t have friends. Especially not organics whose planet they plan to burn to cinders.”  
“I-” he searched for something to say. “I wouldn’t hurt her.” A lie, he had hurt her when he said goodbye.

The two robots exchanged a look, clearly deeply confused.

“I don’t know what you two want from me,” he began, “I don’t even know who you are. So if you brought me here to interrogate me for information, I don’t have any information to give.”

As he was talking he saw the approach of jeeps. It was the soldiers from the quarry and his fingers instinctively flexed.

“How is everything?” one man, clearly not a soldier, asked as he stepped out of a jeep. He was followed by a human he recognized from before whose optics immediately landed on Thundercracker and didn’t leave.

“He’s claiming amnesia,” the red robot said.

“And we believe him?” the soldier mocked.

In answer Arcee stepped forward to stand before Thundercracker, staring directly into his optics.

“Arcee-” her companion began.

“I’m alright, Cliffjumper,” she said, not breaking contact from the jet.

Feeling as if he was being tested Thundercracker forced himself not to break away from her gaze. And then finally she turned around to face her allies, “He’s telling the truth.”

The soldier snorted but Cliffjumper looked ready to accept her word. “Then he’s hardly of any use,” he replied, looking behind her at Thundercracker. “Does Skywarp have amnesia?”

He didn’t reply, not eager to betray his ‘friend’ to these two, even if he was part of a dangerous army.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Cliffjumper said finally.

Arcee walked over to stand with Cliffjumper, “We need to find him, we need to know how many Decepticons are on Earth.”

“And just leave him here?” Burns demanded suddenly.

“We have soldiers, we can watch him,” the other man pointed out.

The soldier’s voice dropped to a low whisper so the other humans couldn’t hear him, “Powell, if escapes those chains my men aren’t going to stand a chance.”

“I agree with Burns,” Cliffjumper said, looking like that wasn’t the easiest thing to admit. “I believe you when you say he has amnesia, Arcee. But that doesn’t mean he won’t be dangerous if he escapes.”

“We can’t leave those Cons out there,” Arcee insisted. “Primus knows what they’ll do!”

There was a moment of heavy silence, and then Cliffjumper’s blue optics suddenly softened. He reached out and held Arcee’s hands. “Okay, you go and find Skywarp, you’re a better tracker than me. I’ll stay and watch Thundercracker.”

“Are you sure?” Arcee asked softly.

“I’m sure,” Cliffjumper smiled at her. “Just please call for me if there’s more than Skywarp.”

  
She nodded and turned to Powell, “I assure you I will find them.”

  
Powell nodded, “I believe you.”

Burns said nothing.

Arcee glanced at Thundercracker one last time, her expression unreadable. And then she transformed and was gone.

Thundercracker shivered, suddenly feeling as if malevolent optics were staring into his circuitry.


	14. Chapter 14

When Charlie had ran out of tears she forced her aching brain to start working out her next plan. She still needed to find Thundercracker, she needed to find him and ask him about the Decepticons.

More importantly, she needed to save him from whatever those two Autobots and the government wanted to do to him.

She pulled herself into a sitting position on her bed, looked around, and nearly screamed blood murder.

Memo was at her window, his arm raised as if he had been about to tap the glass.

Charlie slid off her bed and hurried to the window, pushing it open as quietly as possible. “You and I haven’t known each other long. Do you make a habit of camping out in front of girls’ windows?”  
“No!” he spluttered, looking sincerely dismayed at the suggestion. “But there were a couple of soldiers at your front door so I thought I’d-” he shook his head, giving up on the explanation. “Listen, I heard what happened to Thundercracker.”

Charlie started, “How do you know?”

“It’s all over the news,” he began, “Well, not that a giant robot was captured by the army. But they mentioned catching a terrorist out by the quarry and I had a hard time believing that it _wasn’t_ him.” 

“They did take him,” Charlie nodded. “I need to figure out where he is, I’ve got to save him, Memo!”

“Yeah, I figured,” he replied. “That’s why I’m over. The reporter on the TV mentioned an army base outside of town. He’s gotta be there.”

Charlie agreed but there was a different problem, “I left my bike at the quarry, I can’t walk there on foot.”

Memo smiled, an uncharactsitc gleam of mischeif in his eye. “I have the solution to that, but it’s over at my house. Can you climb out this window?”  
“Try and stop me,” Charlie replied, bracing herself to crawl through.

But just as she had her knee against the frame there was a quiet knock on her door. “Charlie?”

Immediately Memo ducked down into the bushes that surronded Charlie’s house. She herself had halted, unsure whether she should risk her mother hearing her jump out of the window. And also, there was something in her mother’s voice that had made her grow motionless.

“I know you can hear me,” Sally said, her voice almost too quiet to hear. “But you-you don’t have to say anything, just listen. Please.”

Charlie stayed still as her mother continued:

“I-I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I made you think I don’t care about your father or that I needed you to be perfect and happy. I think a part of me knew you were struggling with coming to terms, especially when you weren’t there when he… But the rest of me was scared, and selfish. I was terrified to bring up all those memories again. I know I haven’t been acting like it, but he was my husband, Charlie. I loved your Dad, I loved him _so_ much and I had no idea what I was going to do without him. He told me that I was going to be fine, that _we_ were going to be fine. But I didn’t believe him. And after…after he was gone, I don’t remember being so scared, of not knowing what to do. I was worried I’d let it get to me and I’d let you and Otis down. So I tried to put my chin up and fast forward to when it didn’t hurt to think about him, to where we could smile and laugh. That’s when I met Ron. I know you feel like he’s replacing your dad, Charlie, and I know I’ve made it look like he is. But I swear he’s _not_ , no one could replace your father. But Ron does care about me, and he cares about you and Otis and he helps me breath easier… But he didn’t help me see that I had let you down anyway. You tried to be so strong and I was so wrapped up in myself that I didn’t even think that you were hiding how hurt you were. I let you down, and I made you think you can’t talk to me or count on my and I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to be such a horrible mother, but I swear Charlie, starting now I will do everything I can to make up for that. You’re my baby, Charlie, I couldn’t handle it if I lost you too.”  
Charlie’s throat felt crushed with emotion and only her dedication in finding and rescuing Thundercracker kept her silent. Either way guilt nearly brought tears to her eyes as she heard her mother’s footsteps slowly walk away.

“I’m sorry, Mom,” she breathed quietly before climbing out the window.

Memo was still waiting for her, if he had heard Sally he gave no indication.

Deathly quiet the two stayed hunkered down as they turned the corner, ready to sprint across the street to Memo’s house. But the moment they turned around they nearly knocked into Otis, who stared at them with wide eyes.

In a fraction of a second Charlie recongnized the evil look in Otis’ eyes, an evil that only came from baby brothers-and she tackled him to the ground before he could tattle on her.

“Don’t you _dare_ ,” she hissed covering his mouth to keep from calling out.

Memo looked at the two siblings, Otis struggling to get out of his sister’s grip, and to the front of the house where the soldiers stalked. “They’re gonna hear us-why don’t we just take him with us?”

Charlie stared up at him while Otis immediately started nodding his head, his eyes now alit with excitement.

“Are you crazy,” Charlie breathed frantically, “We can’t take him to an army base!”  
He shrugged helplessly, “Do you know any other way to keep him from telling your mom?”  
Charlie looked at her brother, looked to Memo, then back again. Finally she let out an aggravated sigh and lifted her hand, “You _swear_ you’ll do what I tell you and not say _anything_ to mom about this?”

“I swear on my black belt!” he said, just barely keeping his voice quiet enough.

“You don’t have a black belt,” Charlie rolled her eyes as she dragged her brother to his feet. Together the three hurried across the street and made it into Memo’s garage without being seen.

“What’s that?” Otis asked the moment they were safe from being spotted.

In the middle of the pretty barren garage was a ford pinto with a disgusting green paint job that reminded Charlie of vomit.

“It’s my car!” Memo said proudly, standing next to it and puffing out his chest.

“You have a driver’s liscense?” Charlie asked.

“Well, no. I have a learners, and my mom says I can’t drive it without her. But- _but_ she also said it was for emergencies and I think this counts as an emergency.”

She shrugged, “Let’s do this then.”

_Hang on, Thundercracker_. _I’m coming_.

.

Thundercracker sat quietly, watching Cliffjumper and the soldiers.

They kept a safe distance from him, the soldiers once in a while glancing at each other and murmuring something. But Cliffjumper never took his optics off the jet, him and the human from the quarry.

“He,” the not-soldier human spoke up. “he doesn't seem dangerous.”

“Don’t let him fool you,” the quarry soldier replied, his gaze venomous as he looked at Thundercracker.

Cliffjumper didn’t say anything, watching Thundercracker with an unreadable expression. The jet was the first to look away.

Not for the first time his thoughts when to Charlie, he hoped she was safe. He remembered when she yelled at him back at the quarry, and he was kinda amused that she could make him feel embarrassed when he thought he was going to be killed. She was no doubt still angry at him, probably was ready to move on and never think about him again. Still, a selfish part of him hoped she knew that everything he had done-he had never wanted to hurt her.

A new sound reached his audio receptors, pulling him out of his wistful thinking. His optics turned skyward.

In the dark sky he could see a blue helicopter, heading straight for the base. And by the increased murmurings of the soldiers they had noticed as well.

The quarry soldier spoke up, “Did we call for reinforcements?”

The helicopter drew closer. Cliffjumper spoke up, his voice heavy with dread. “That’s not reinforcements.”

It was nearly toward them as a sense of instinctual fear came over Thundercracker. “ _Run_.”

It transformed midair, revealing itself as another robot, red optics glaring down at the group below. Thundercracker saw his own insignia on its body and felt a wave of nausea.

_A Decepticon…an ally..._

Cliffjumper started to fire up at the blue robot who returned his own fire. Thundercracker watched as the soldiers shouted orders to each other, hurrying for weapons.

He watched them helplessly, knowing they wouldn’t stand a chance.

.

Charlie had given Otis a quick rundown of what had happened the last few days (not including flying to London or kissing Thundercracker). And Otis’s insistent questions filled the entire slow, hesitant road trip to the base.

It just came into sight when Charlie saw explosions light up the night sky. Otis went quiet and Memo swallowed.

“Do you think-”

“Go faster!” Charlie interrupted, leaning forward as if that would help.

Memo obeyed, but quickly showed a look of panic when they could make out the the fence that surronded the base. They were heading straight for it.

“Charlie,” Memo began slowly.

“We have to drive through it,” Charlie replied, making out two large shapes fighting, fire making them silouhettes. She felt sick.

“Drive through, Charlie I can’t-” Memo’s words were cut short.

“Sorry,” she said and pushed her foot against the gas, the car’s speed accelerating. “Grab onto something!” 

The three closed their eyes as the car slowed for just a moment, accompanied by the sound of awful scrapping, and then the noise vanished and the car zoomed a few feet before Memo quickly slammed on the brakes.

Charlie opened her eyes, turning to Memo to see he hadn’t done the same. “Memo?”

“I don’t want to look,” he said, keeping his eyes shut. “I know this car is going to be scratched beyond repair. I don’t wanna look.”

Charlie left him be and turned to her brother, “Otis?”

Her brother was on the floor. “OTIS!”

“I didn’t grab onto something,” he said simply.

“Are you okay?”

In answer he lifted his hand and gave a thumbs up.

Charlie let herself sag in her seat for a moment before remembering where they were and why. She jumped out of the car and ran around it to look to where fire was still raging, the explosion had been the jeeps, now being licked by flames.

The red robot from the quarry was rolling across the cement, fighting a blue bot she’d never seen more but whose red eyes flashed maliciously.

_Is that a Decepticon?_

But the question left her mind when she saw her friend, the jet chained to the ground and watching the battle in helpless fear.

“Thundercracker!” she cried out, rushing forward, “ _Thundercracker_!”

.

The first to go was the human who wasn’t a soldier.

One of the blasts hit him directly and he exploded into a puddle of clear liquid. Cliffjumper let out a noise of distress and Thundercracker felt sick.

And then the vehicles were hit and explosions riddled the area, the soldiers were thrown across the ground form the impact, many not getting back up.

The blue robot collided with Cliffjumper, sending his body scraping against the ground.

Thundercracker stood up but wouldn’t have moved even if he was chained. Who was he suppose to fight? The red robot was technically his enemy. But-he looked at the destruction around him-the blue robot didn’t seem like a friend.

He was staring at the fight when a familiar voice reached him. He blinked, a sense of denial coming over him.

_No, no, no, no!_ _  
_Thundercracker turned around to see Charlie-of all things _Charlie_ -rushing toward the danger, staring straight at him.

His chest ached as he took a step toward her, “You’re not suppose to be here!”  
She came to a stumbling halt in front of him, hurt flashing in her optics. “But I _am_ here!”  
Thundercracker opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. But before he could think of something Cliffjumper had gained the upper hand and kicked the blue robot away. The stranger slid across the ground, straight toward Charlie.

Cliffjumper’s optics sparked with panic when he saw Charlie but Thundercracker was ready. Using his foot he slammed into into the blue robot’s chest, stopping him before he crushed Charlie who had fallen onto her backside.

A moment later and the blue robot slid out from under Thundercracker and knocked into him, pinning him effortlessly to the ground.

“On his side, are you Seeker?” the blue robot growled, mistaking Thundercracker’s actions as an attack.

“Wait!” he began, trying to explain.

But the blue robot was turning toward Charlie who stared at him in horror. “Or should I say on that thing’s side?”

“Don’t hurt her!” Thundercracker begged, trying to break free of his restraints so he could push his attacker off.

Cliffjumper tried to rise to his feet, but his legs shook and he fell on his knees, still winded from his fight.

But the Decepticon stood up, stepping away from Thundercracker. He narrowed his optics at the jet. “Yes,” he said at last. “I don’t think you’ll be worth the effort.”

Lifting his arm the robot aimed a canon at Thundercracker’s chest-and fired.


	15. Chapter 15

She felt the hole in her heart as his body went limp, it grew and grew until her heart caved into itself. There was nothing left to hold it up.

She opened her mouth, was pretty sure she screamed, but the only sound was the rush of blood in her ears.

Charlie was bolting toward Thundercracker’s body before the blue robot was even in the sky, transforming into a helicopter and disappearing into the night. She paid no mind to the red robot, crouched a few feet away, staring at her as she reached the jet’s side.

“Thundercracker!” she wailed, grabbing his arm. “Thundercracker, wake up! Wake up, _please_!  
That familiar sense of helplessness started to overwhelm her and she hated it, oh God, she hated it.

She looked beseechingly into his blank eyes, begging him to blink, for his eyes to glow red again. She moved as if to climb onto his chest but gave up, her shaking legs were barely able to even hold her up.

“Please, wake up,” she sobbed against his shoulder. “ _Please_ , I can’t lose you too!”

Desperate she wracked her brain for any ideas to help him. The few things her mother had told her about a nurse’s job came back to her. Specifically, she recalled the patient whose heart had stopped beating. They had tried to make it start beating again with a…

Charlie lifted her head and looked around, through her tears and the haze of the flames she saw what she was looking for in the wreckage of the jeeps.

At the same time she saw the shapes of Memo and Otis running over, she had forgotten they were here.

“Charlie!” she heard Memo called out.

“Thundercracker needs help!” she yelled at him. “We have to shock him!” _Please let this work_ , she prayed, looking over Thundercracker again. _If he’s dead and I wouldn’t be able to…_

Shaking her head Charlie turned around to run for it when a hand suddenly came in front of her. With a tear-stained snarl on her face Charlie looked up at the red robot who looking down at her with a strange expression.

“Get away!” she snapped, “I have to save him! And you can’t stop me!”

The red robot turned his optics to Thundercracker. “That gun won’t have enough voltage.”

He pushed Charlie, gently and firmly away, to kneel before Thundercracker removing the chains that bound the jet’s hands.

Remembering how he had attacked her friend, Charlie shot forward, “Don’t touch him-” Before she could reach the red robot she felt two pairs of arms grab onto her.

Memo looked at her beseechingly, “I have no idea who this new robot is but I think he wants to help!”  
Otis was just staring at the two robots as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.

Charlie, unable to break from their grip, watched helplessly as the robot reached out to Thundercracker.

.

It was a split second of aching black nothingness.

And then his world exploded into light and it was…an anticlimactic experience.

One moment he knew nothing but his name and his latest memories, but then he felt the missing pieces fit into place:

He was Thundercracker, a Decepticon, a Seeker. Megatron was his leader but he took commands from Starscream-his friend. And Skywarp was his friend…Cliffjumper and Arcee were his enemies, they had all arrived to Earth. He had been so tired of the war, he still was, and then he blacked out.

And then there was Charlie, beautiful, sweet, funny Charlie who smiled at him and treated him as if he wasn’t a Con, she didn’t know it was him. He, a Con, who had never had any specific feelings toward humans, had kissed her. He had very biased feelings now.

He then recalled the last time he saw her, running toward him, still wanting him when he had hurt her. But then Dropkick-Dropkick, an ally, he remembered him…Dropkick had shot him. Dropkick wasn’t his ally anymore.

_Did he get Charlie?_

It was concern for his friend that made Thundercracker jolt, his optics popping open to see Cliffjumper looming over him, a hand on the jet’s chest.

The two shared a startled look before Thundercracker pushed him away, centuries of war against the Autobot leaving his body on edge. Cliffjumper didn’t fight, stumbling away while Thundercracker rolled onto his back, his chest shrieking in pain.

_Oh, Dropkick just made the biggest mistake of the rest of his life_.

But then a voice reached his audio receptors that nearly made him melt.

“You’re okay! Thank God, you’re okay!” Charlie ran around to face him, not hesitating to throw her arms around his neck.

It felt different, touching her, now that he had his memories back. Starscream would be so disgusted, all of the Decepticons were. The fact didn’t bother him in the slightest.

“Charlie…” he breathed, his voice hoarse from the near death experience. “Charlie...” _I felt more alive with you then I had the entirety of this Primus-forsaken war._

“I thought you had died,” she sobbed into his neck. “I thought you had…Oh, Thundercracker…”

Emotion came over him as he heard the break in her voice, he had caused her even more grief. Not only that, he had put her in danger, coming to safe him and being so near Dropkick. That Con would have killed her for the fun of it if he had wanted to.

_Even when I didn’t have my memories, I was still right that she shouldn’t be around me_. “Charlie,” he breathed, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t even worry about it,” he felt her lips smile against his metal skin and he shuddered. “Everything that happened, just forget it, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Yes,” he said, slowly pulling himself into a sitting distance, her arms reluctantly letting go. “It does matter. Charlie, I have my memories back. I have to tell you something.”  
He watched her closely as he explained that he was a Decepticon, that he had been sent to scout Earth and prepare it for the Decepticon invasion. As he talked he saw Cliffjumper out of the corner of his optic, and to his surprise, Memo and Otis were here too.

But at the moment all that mattered was Charlie’s expression and she wasn’t giving anything away about how she felt. She only listened as he finished as to who he truly was and why he was here.

She spoke, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? After Skywarp told you, back at the park, why didn’t you tell me then?”  
Feeling lower than a worm Thundercracker crouched so his face was closer to her, he needed her to look him in the optic to know he was sincere. “I’m sorry,” he said again, not able to apologize enough. “I should have, especially when you thought I didn’t care about you. I was-I was scared. I was scared you’d hate me.”

Charlie blinked and then reached her hands out to cup his face. He closed his optics, just for a moment, and then opened them again. He waited to hear what he deserved.

“I could never hate you, Thundercracker,” she said, shrugging helplessly. “I love you too much.”

It took him an embarrassingly long moment for the words to process. And when they did he jerked away and looked down at her in sheer shock. “Really?” his voice shuddered with emotion, he didn’t even recognize it.

“Really,” she said dead serious. “I thought I was painfully obvious.”

Before Thundercracker could-what? Laugh? Faint? Hug her? Tell her he felt the same? _Kiss her again?_ -Cliffjumper reached his hand out to press against the side of his head.

He had been silent during that whole discussion, looking just as shocked as Thundercracker by Charlie’s confession. But now his optics were narrowed in worry, “Arcee?”

The Con could just make out Arcee’s voice on the comm: “I need back up, Cliffjumper! Skywarp isn’t alone, he and Shatter are chasing me! Dropkick just joined them! I can’t fight them all, they’re trying to lead me right into a populated area!”

Cliffjumper jumped to his feet, the dents and scrapes of his body apparently no longer an issue, “Hold on! I’m on my way!”

Thundercracker stood up, speaking before he had officially made up his mind. “I’ll fly ahead, I can reach them first.”

The Autobot looked at him with suspicion, “You’re going to fight your fellow Decepticons?”

“Fellow Decepticons my _aft_ , I was just shot! Dropkick isn’t getting away with that. Besides,” he glanced at Charlie, “I have better things to fight for now, just something the Cons wouldn’t approve of.”

Charlie looked up at him beseechingly, her brown optics shimmering, “Let me come with you! I want to help!”  
He smiled at her, “I know you do, Charlie. But now that I have my memories back I know what the Decepticons are capable of. I can’t put you in any more danger.”  
“I’m not worried about myself I’m worried about you,” she insisted.

“Don’t worry,” he replied, ages of war experience flowing through his circuits. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”

He left quickly and without another word. He didn’t want to risk Charlie finding a way to convince him to let her go. No, he was going to keep her safe. For the first time, in a long time, fighting didn’t seem like a pointless hassle.

No, now it was something he completely and one hundred percent was ready to do, to protect Charlie, to protect her home.

_My home_.

.

“Take me with you!” Charlie turned on the red robot after Thundercracker had flown off. Her heart was doing acrobatics but she didn’t have time to fully process that she had finally confessed to the jet.

The Autobot looked down on her, not expecting her to turn to him, “What?”

“I know you don’t know me,” Charlie said, rushed over to the tazer gun she had never reached. “But I promise I can find a way to help! I can’t let Thundercracker put himself in danger without me!” She looked up at the robot, the heavy gun in her arms. “This is my planet, let me help fight for it!”

He stared at her for a quick moment, clearly impatient to leave and sighed, “You know what, fine. You can’t get right into the battle but keeping you around might convince Thundercracker not to turn on me and Arcee if we start losing.” He transformed into a car and opened the passenger door. “Hurry up!”

Thrown by how easy that had been Charlie ran over, clearly this robot was a big pushover than Thundercracker.

But before she climbed in she turned to Memo and Otis who were watching them with wide eyes.

“You can’t be serious,” Memo begged.

“I want to go!” Otis cried.

Charlie shook her head, “No, I need you guys to go home. Make sure Mom and Ron are safe, Otis.”

“And get ready to evacuate your town if things go wrong,” the robot voice spoke up.

“How will we know if things go wrong?” Memo asked him.

“Oh, you’ll know.”

“I trust you to make sure my family’s safe,” Charlie told her friend, looking at him with meaning. “And thank you, for everything.”

She slid into the car and the robot drove off at breakneck speed.

“I’m Cliffjumper, by the way,” he introduced.

“I’m Charlie.”

.

The other two kids had left by the time Burns crawled out from his destroyed jeep. His body was wracked with pain and he felt hot blood in his face, the flames of the attack were so close he felt scalded.

He had come to when the blue jet was shot, Burns had thought to himself, at least that was one less enemy to worry about. But then he had watched as the citizen, Charlie Watson, appear out of nowhere. His head had been ringing and he couldn’t make out what she was saying.

But he watched in silent awe and rage as Cliffjumper revived his so called enemy. Burns wished he could say he was surprised.

The two robots had shared some knowing, conniving nod before Thundercracker, the one they had been hunting this entire time, flew out of the base. A moment later Cliffjumper followed, that crazy girl in tow.

Burns pushed himself into a sitting position, took a moment to pay respect to Powell and his fallen soldiers, then look toward a solo chopper that had been left at the base.

This was shaping up to be a _long_ night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna make chapter 16 really long so I'm not lying about there being only 17 chapters in this fic.


	16. Chapter 16

Pain had brought her speed down horribly.

Arcee zig-zagged across the ground, Shatter driving behind her and Skywarp up above. They both threw shots at her, some hitting and scrapping against her sides. She couldn’t believe they had been able to ambush her like that, perhaps if she had stayed with Cliffjumper like he had wanted-

Arcee mentally shook herself, she had no time to think about how she could have done things differently. Shatter was clearly trying to herd the Autobot into the heart of the nearby town where humans would be in danger. She knew Arcee wouldn’t attack her in risk of hurting bystanders. The Decepticons had no such qualms.

She feigned left, only to take a sharp right, catching Shatter and Skywarp off guard. She needed to get away from the city, if she did that she could transform and fight-

Bullets dented her, making her screech in pain as she quick turned away.

It was Dropkick, flying overheard. She hadn’t even seen him arrived and she was even more woefully outnumbered. Without a choice she found herself driving closer and closer to the city, the Decepticons terrifyingly close.

_Hurry Cliffjumper! Please hurry!_

_._

It didn’t take long for Thundercracker to find Dropkick, even with a head start the blue Con was woefully slow. At least compared to a Seeker.

With fear, he saw Dropkick and Skywarp flying over Charlie’s town, uncomfortably close to the bright lights of the amusement park. But alongside his fear of the destruction they could cause-he felt guilt at the sight of Skywarp. The purple jet was his friend and had stayed by Thundercracker’s side when he didn’t even remember him. But Skywarp wouldn’t care if humans died thanks to the Decepticons, he wouldn’t bat an optic at killing Charlie if he was told to. And for that Thundercracker would have to fight his old friend.

After he completely flattened Dropkick for stabbing him.

So without further ado (and with excellent stealth) Thundercracker in jet form slammed directly into Dropkick. He relished the bark of surprise and pain as the helicopter dropped a few feet before catching himself.

“ _Thundercracker_!?” Skywarp’s voice shrieked through the air. “What the slag did you do that for?” The purple jet flew in a slow circle around his friend, Thundercracker ignored the question.

“Oh, you didn’t know?” Dropkick demanded waspishly. “He’s decided to go traitor on us! Cared more about protecting some pathetic little flesh bag over helping me fight Cliffjumper!”

“What?!” Skywarp nearly stopped in midair. “That’s not true! Thundercracker, tell him he’s crazy!”

“I’m sorry, Skywarp,” Thundercracker sighed, voice heavy. “But I’m not letting Dropkick and Shatter get back to Megatron alive.”

“Ha!” the blue Con sneered, less than intimidated. “As if you could stop us!”

.

“They’re in the city!” Cliffjumper suddenly shouted. Charlie, her nerves already wound up, jumped in her seat, the taz gun clutched to her chest.

“That’s not good,” she stated the obvious as they flew past a stop sign and into the streets of her home town. She could see a few people through diner windows and out in the streets, some of them looking to where Cliffjumper was headed.

“ _That_ is an understatement.”

She could make out the sound of crashing and the screech of tires up ahead. Cliffjumper turned a sharp corner and Charlie nearly fell onto the passenger seat, catching herself on the dashboard just in time.

“Cliff, be honest,” she spoke up. “Are these Decepticons going to kill any humans?” She thought of all the people she passed everyday on these very streets. She didn’t want to see any of them be stepped on or shot.

“They won’t if we can keep their attention on us and out of this town,” he informed her. “We need a place that’s away from people but will give us room to fight.”

Charlie racked her brain for a moment before a light bulb went over her head. “The beach! It’s only a few miles from here! You’ll get sand everywhere but it’s large enough for you, and no people will be there at night!”

“Then that’s the plan! Oh, look whose already here.”

Charlie looked through the window to see, beside the glowing lights of the amusement park, a blue jet flying around a helicopter and purple jet.

_Thundercracker_. She remembered the first time he flew over her town, it had felt like ages ago.

But she didn’t get a chance to watch him fly for long, a seat belt suddenly wrapped over her chest and she was pushed against the seat.

“Hang on to something, kid,” Cliffjumper’s voice spoke up and Charlie looked forward.

Going down the road, dodging the few cars that were there, Charlie saw a pink and white vehicle along with a slick red car. The two were going way past the speed limit, slamming into each other repeatedly and nearly taking out a few bystander cars with them. Charlie didn’t have to ask who they were. She also didn’t need to get a closer look to see Arcee was pretty banged up.

“Cliffjumper if you can get me closer I can shoot this out the window!” she offered, holding out the gun to show him.

“We are going to get closer,” he assured her, “But you must be insane if you think I’m letting a civilian with zero battle experience shoot a weapon in a car chase where you could easily hit my friend!”

“We just met you don’t know if I have any battle experience!” Charlie replied hotly.

“ _Do_ you?”

“Well-no, but I-”

He was quick to interrupt, “That’s what I thought. You’re expertise is seducing Decepticons, mine is flipping Shatter over. So please sit back and let me do that.” 

Cheeks red Charlie did as she was told, bracing herself as Cliffjumper swerved around a van and reached the other side of Shatter. Almost immediately the car moved to smack into Cliffjumper and he drove onto the street, driving precariously for a few seconds before slamming his side into the car, pushing her away and letting himself back into the road.

“I’m not complaining,” Charlie started, her jaw bone jarring from that hit. “But why doesn’t she just transform?”

“We’re robots in disguise,” Cliffjumper said as Arcee in turn tried to hit Shatter. “Shatter doesn’t want humans to know about us cause that will give your kind the advantage to prepare for them. Plus, she enjoys toying with us.” 

_Toying?_ Did the Con think this was all a fun game? The thought made Charlie feel a new sense of dread trickle down her spine.

But she only had a moment to worry, moving together as if they could reach the others’ mind, Cliffjumper and Arcee caged Shatter in. They pressed against her sides to keep her on the lane, Charlie covered her ears as the sound of tires screaming sliced through her eardrums as Shatter tried to turn.

The three cars were heading to a split in the road when, much to Charlie’s horror, she saw the hood of Shatter’s car pull open-and what could only be a futuristic gun-rose up and aimed right at Cliffjumper.

The red Autobot said three words: “Oh, yeah that.” And then hit the brakes.

While Shatter sped forward and Arcee gave chase Cliffjumper slid across the road, trying to stop the momentum as they went downhill. Charlie held the steering wheel, having to hold herself back from slamming onto the brake with panic, until the Autobot did a 180 and finally came to a stop.

She sat stone still, catching her breath as she had been running. “How do you forget…” she said slowly. “That she was armed?”  
“If I knew she was going to pull a gun I wouldn’t have tried to cage her,” he said sharply but without any malice.

“Charlie?”  
Her head snapped around to see where they had stopped, right in front of the diner were teenagers and young adults liked to loiter. And who was there but the last set of people she wanted to see.

She also realized, “We are having a high speed chase in front of a ton of witnesses right now. Quick roll down the window!”

Cliffjumper obeyed and Charlie poked her head out at Tripp and Tina and way too many of her classmates who were sitting at the outside tables, staring at her.

“I’m shooting a movie,” she said simply.

And then she pulled her head back into the car as Cliffjumper turned around went after Shatter.

.

Meanwhile Memo and Otis were not having a great time either.

Oh sure the ride out of the base and through town had been going fine at first, despite the fact Memo could see the many scrapes and scratches on his car that his mother would not miss.

But then they had to quickly hit the brakes when a familiar looking car stopped in front of them.

“Oh no,” the two boys said in unison as Sally Watson came storming out of the car.

“I am telling your mother,” she promised darkly as Memo reluctantly rolled down the window. “And Otis you are ground until you’re eighty! And where is your sister?”  
Memo tried to think of a quick and believable lie when Otis crawled over his lap to stick his head out the window. “Mom! TC is actually a robot and Charlie’s driving a red robot car who wants to fight the bad ones before they kill us all!”

Sally only stared at her sun while Memo sucked in a breath. “I think,” he began, “Charlie wanted to keep that a secret.”

“Otis,” Sally said with disapproval clear in her voice. “Now is not the time to be making up stories.”

“I’m not, Mom! I swear, this helicopter blew up a bunch of soldiers and-”  
”This isn’t funny, Otis,” Sally snapped. “Where is Charlie?”

Ron had stepped out of the car during this time, but was looking at something ahead of them. “What’s going on over at the Boardwalk?”

The group looked over to the park to see three figures-two jets and a helicopter, slamming into each other and flying terrifying close to the roller coaster.

Otis turned to his mother with a smug smirk, “Do you believe me now?”

.

Thundercracker ducked out of the way, his wing coming far too close to hitting the roller coaster that he had rode only a short time ago. He _had_ to get Dropkick and Skywarp away from the park, not only did he not want any of the watching humans get killed but he also didn’t want Charlie to lose her job via the park’s destruction.

_Wow, do I really have it bad_.

“Come on, Thundercracker, you can do better than that,” Dropkick goaded. “I thought you were going to kill me!”

Thundercracker smashed into him, a blue blur as he tried to push him away. His aim was to lead the Cons to the beach, the same one where he had spent his time with Charlie, he hadn’t had a care in the world that day.

“Is that it?” Dropkick demanded. “When you rose from the dead I thought you’d be a _challenge_! Come on then, it’s not everyday I get to rip open a traitor! Fight like a Decepticon! Or maybe I can go find your little pet and let _it_ entertain me!”

_Slam!_ Thundercracker threw his whole weight, and more than enough anger, into Dropkick’s body, knocking him away from the park to crash outside the town.

Thundercracker felt Skywarp behind him and quickly flew ahead, making sure he was out of sight of the humans before he transformed into robot mode and turned around to face Skywarp.

“I don’t want to fight you,” he said quickly.

Skywarp transformed so he could glare red optics into the blue Con. “You could have fooled me! What are you thinking? Fighting Dropkick! He and Shatter are some of Megatron’s favorites, Thundercracker! Not even Starscream can protect you when you go back!”

“I’m not going back,” he said simply.

“Then what are you going to do? Hide out on the planet Megatron wants to take over? Join the _Autobots_!?”

Thundercracker flinched, “I don’t know yet. But I won’t help the Decepticons destroy Charlie’s home.”

“Charlie, Charlie, Charlie,” Skywarp mocked. “What makes her so special? She’s just a human you’ve known for what-a few cycles! We’ve known each other longer than I can remember and you’re choosing _her_!”

“I don’t have to choose!” Thundercracker insisted. “You’re my friend, Skywarp! Stay and help me! I know you don’t want to invade Earth! We can stay together and help protect the humans!”

Skywarp glared and Thundercracker could see grief and betrayal battling the fury in his glowing optics. “You’re right I don’t care about Earth. I care about the Decepticons, I’m loyal to _them_ , I’m not like you Thundercracker! I don’t turn around and betray everything I stand for because I have an organic obsession!”

Thundercracker didn’t get to say more, Skywarp, still with that betrayed look on his face, let out a furious yowl and lunged at his friend.

.

“I don’t see her! Arcee do you see her?”

Charlie sat inside Cliffjumper as he drived through the random streets, away from the populated heart of the town. Charlie had looked toward the boardwalk only to see that Thundercracker and the other Decepticons had vanished.

“Nothing!” a female voice spoke over the radio. “This town is like a maze!”

“Well, come back to me! We’ll head out of the town and see she’ll follow!”

Arcee gave an affirmation and then all that was left was the sound of Cliffjumper’s engines and Charlie breathing.

“I wish I could tell you our life isn’t always like this,” the Autobot said, breaking the silence. “But it has been for a long time.”

She frowned, feeling a rush of sympathy. “That must be hard.”

“It’s hard for us,” he admitted. “It would be much harder for someone like you.”

Her brow furrowed, “Someone like me?”

“A small organic with no battle experience who just cost a violent tyrant one of his soldiers. Even if we can kill Shatter and the other Cons, there will be more. And they’ll come for Thundercracker when they find out he’s betrayed them. He wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Charlie knew he was right. She was just one human, she couldn’t protect him. And he couldn’t protect her, even though he’d try. He couldn’t fight an entire army on his own.

“What do you think he should do?” she asked Cliffjumper.

He was silent for a moment, then, “Let’s survive this night, and then we’ll figure out the next step.”

Charlie nodded, finding that she couldn’t help but trust this Autobot. There was something about him that she found friendly and trusting, she wondered if all the Autobots were like this.

She turned her head to look out the window, only to let out a startled cry.

The next thing she knew Cliffjumper was flown into a flip as Shatter slammed into him. Charlie kept her eyes shut and her hands on the dashboard as he scraped to a stop on his roof.

“Cliffjumper,” Charlie gasped, she couldn’t fell anything broken but she wasn’t sure if that was thanks to the sudden adrenaline rushing through her blood. She looked through the cracked window to see Shatter was turning a circle before facing them again, she burst forward with horrifying speed, heading straight toward them. Charlie had an image of she and Cliffjumper being sliced in half and started to fumble with her seat belt.

“Cliffjumper we have to move she’s coming back!”

She braced herself, ready to get hit, when two cars appeared out of the street, crashing into Shatter and sending her skidding.

Charlie’s jaw dropped as she saw the two familiar and ugly cars, the hoods now dented from the impact.

It was her mom, and Memo, and Otis and even Ron. She couldn’t believe they had just done that. They had saved them!”

Arcee then appeared, practically flying past the two cars before transforming mid drive into a robot and knocking into Shatter, sending her down the grassy hill below and into the treeline.

“ _Now_ we can actually fight,” Cliffjumper’s voice spoke up, startling Charlie. She watched as a metal hand appeared from the car and he pushed himself back onto his wheels and drove after the two femme bots with Charlie in tow.

.

Sally stared into the trees, unable to believe what she had just seen. In unison she and the equally stunned Ron turned to the other car. Memo and Otis looked just as shocked as the two adults.

“Memo,” Sally said slowly. “What was that?”

“My mom’s going to kill me,” was all he said in reply, staring at the wheel.

“Otis, buddy…” Ron spoke up, his voice a little shaky. “Are you okay?”

“That was awesome,” Otis said simply, he then put his head out the window and threw up.

.

Charlie and Cliffjumper stood on the edge of the grassy cliff, waves crashing against it below. The two watched as Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Dropkick flew over the ocean, all three in robot form and Thundercracker outnumbered.

Down below on the beach Shatter was now in robot form and was wrestling Arcee, keeping up sand to impair the Autobot’s vision.

Upon seeing his ally in distress Cliffjumper headed down toward her. He stopped only long enough to look at Charlie, “Stay up here out of sight and do _not_ fire my that gun!” And then he was gone.

Charlie held the gun close, feeling a sense of teenage rebellion. She liked Cliffjumper and got he was here to help humans-but that didn’t mean she had to do as he said! Thundercracker was outnumbered and needed all the help he could.

Aiming it carefully at Dropkick who was doing the most damage to her friend, Charlie held her breath and fired.

Skywarp let out a painful cry and immediately fell out of the sky, landing hard on the beach below with his body jerking from the volts of elecricity.

“Maybe Cliffjumper had a point,” she said quietly to herself just as the red robot cried out in absolute exasperation, “WHAT DID I JUST SAY!?”

.

Thundercracker and Dropkick watched Skywarp’s unconcious body hit the ground. The jet couldn’t help feeling that was for the best, when it finally came down to it, he hadn’t been sure if he had it in him to kill his friend.

But that still left him with Dropkick who was glaring toward the cliff side where a familiar human dropped her used up weapon on the ground.

“Is that your pet?” the Con snarled. “The one who made you turn your back on us?”

Dropkick lunged toward her and Thundercracker was quick to give chase, slamming an elbow down onto him so Dropkick crashed into the cliff face below Charlie. He heard her let out a startled cry and looked up, scared she had fallen.

But just as he saw she was safe Dropkick’s arms wrapped around his neck and he flung the jet against the sandy beach, not far from Skywarp’s body. Shatter and the two Autobots paused their fight as Dropkick landed.

“Look at this, Shatter,” he gloated, sending a kick into Thundercracker’s side that knocked the jet onto his back. He slammed a foot into Thundercracker’s chest. “Starscream’s little Seeker is a traitor.”

Both Shatter and Arcee looked surprised by the news but it was Shatter who recovered first, narrowing her optics and giving the former Con a venomous glare.

“Is that so?” she hissed.

“You were too busy with the Autobots to see that he had turned on me and Skywarp while we were in the sky.”

_I turned on you the minute you shot me_ , Thundercracker thought but didn’t bother saying out loud.

The red femme bot turned to the Autobots who tensed, ready to fight again even though they both looked worse for wear. It reminded Thundercracker of when he had first arrived on Earth and fought the two. Now he was, apparently, fighting alongside him.

“Did you two brainwash him to follow Optimus and his worthless sentimentality?” she demanded of the two.

“Don’t patronize them, Shatter,” Dropkick growled mockingly. “Thundercracker here turned on us because of a human.” To the jet’s horror he turned and pointed at Charlie who was watching them from above, “Specifically _that_ one.”

Before the two Decepitcons could do anymore-bullets suddenly rained down on them. Thundercracker looked up to see a black chopper piloted by…that human soldier from the base.

“Burns!” Arcee cried out in shock.

Shatter and Dropkick immediately started firing at him, the bullets barely fazing their extraterrestrial bodies. And for all Burns attempt to dodge the attacks he didn’t stand a chance, the two Autobots gasped in dismay as flames rose up from the falling chopper.

Thundercracker took this distraction to reach up and kick Dropkick squarely in the jaw, forcing the Decepticon off his chest. And then in one swift movement he tore into the sky, catching the burning helicopter before it hit the ocean.

He and Burns shared a second long look, confusion and disbelief etched into his face, before Thundercracker roughly deposited the chopper on the beach. The Autobots moved to help the human just as Shatter appeared in Thundercracker’s field of vision, slamming into his chest and wrapping her arms around his torso before pulling up into the air, taking him with her. He thought he heard Charlie’s scream but he might have imagined it.

Thundercracker struggled against Shatter’s grip as Dropkick turned on Cliffjumper and Arcee. While he was faster than them both he forgot how strong both of them were.

The red Con pulled him higher and higher into the sky until he could barley see them, and then she hissed into his ear.

“I honestly am disappointed.”

Thundercracker went still as she continued, “I was never impressed by you groveling Seekers. I didn’t expect you’d be missed if the Autobots murdered you. Still, you were a _Decepticon_ , that nobility was in your spark and yet you turned on your fellow Cons, even your fellow Seekers, for one measly little human. Don’t try to deny it, I saw the way you looked at her. Disgusting!”

“You-” he growled lowly, “-are making a lot of assumptions if you think I care what you think, Shatter.”

“And what about what Starscream and Lord Megatron will think?” she asked. “Do you not care how they will react to this betrayal?”

Thundercracker thought of them, thought of the sense of fear and awe that Megatron had inspired of him. He thought of the exasperated affection he felt for Starscream, arrogant as he was.

But then he thought of Charlie, of listening to her music, and comforting her in her grief and flying with her and kissing her. She offered him something no Decepticon, no Cybertronian could give him.

“It doesn’t matter how they react,” he snapped. “I won’t be seeing them again any time soon.”

“Oh, I know,” Shatter said simply. “You’ll be dead.”

Then in one swift movement she grabbed Thundercracker’s shoulder and wing, her legs keeping in place as her bladed weapon started to tear and tear and he screamed in pain as he realized what she was doing.

“You love this planet so much, Thundercracker?” she taunted. “Then you can _die on this planet_!” With a final kick that crushed one his engines Thundercracker was hurtling through the air, heading straight for the ocean. He tried to catch himself, to fly, but his torn off wing flew past him, useless and unable to help the now crippled jet.

“Your human will be joining you shortly!” Shatter called down to him.

He hit the salty water with a large splash.

.

Charlie gasped out in horror when she saw Thundercracker, his wing torn off, hit the water and sink beneath his depths.

Could he swim? She didn’t know! He had flown into the water once she remembered, but the water hadn’t been deep and he had both wings to help!

She turned to look down at the beach, “Cliffjumper!”

But the red Autobot was too busy grappling with Dropkick, Arcee behind him, dragging that soldier-burns-out of the burning chopper. Charlie saw they both looked ragged and exhausted. Dropkick did not.

“Come _on_!” the con practically whined, grabbing Cliffjumper and doing a turn to slam and pin his body against the cliff side. The impact made the ground shake beneath her and Charlie stumbled before catching herself.

“Why can’t any of you give me a decent fight!?” he snarled. With one hand on Cliffjumper’s throat he raised the other, now wielding a wickedly sharp blade and aiming it right at the Autobot’s chest.

Charlie panicked and did something that probably wasn’t that smart. She grabbed her gun, now out of volts, and with all her might threw it at Dropkick’s head.

The good news was it hit him this time. The bad news was it did literally nothing.

The Con slowly lifted his head to stare at her. He was in clear disbelief that she had actually thrown something at him, and that it had caused him not a shred of damage.

And then he puffed out a humorless laugh that made Charlie’s heart shrink. “You think you’re a warrior, flesh bag? Tell you what, when I’m finished with you I’ll make your death as painless as possible-”

He stopped abruptly, a blade sticking through his chest, blue liquid dripping from the hole.

Dropkick, eyes once again wide with disbelief, looked down at Cliffjumper. The red Autobot barley looked like he could hold himself up but he had successfully struck his blade right where Dropkick’s heart should be.

“You talk too much,” was all Cliffjumper said, before pulling the blade out and pushing the Con away.

Dropkick stumbled back a few steps before collapsing onto his back, and Charlie knew he wouldn’t be getting back up.

So surprised by the sudden death of the Decepticon Charlie nearly forgot about Thundercracker and Shatter-and then a viscous cry ripped through the night air.

She whirled around to see the red Decepticon bearing down, directly at her. Charlie felt her legs rooted to the ground and couldn’t find the strength to move them, terror holding her in place.

But just as Shatter reached out toward her there was a loud splash, and out of the water sprung Thundercracker, still wingless and looking more furious than Charlie had ever seen.

In one smooth movement he grabbed Shatter and dragged her down into the ocean with him-there was a moment of thrashing before the water went still and the world went quiet.

.

Thundercracker wrapped his arms around Shatter, using their combined weight to drag the two robots deeper into the ocean. He didn’t know if was going to resurface-but Shatter definitely wasn’t.

She struggled and thrashed her limbs as he pulled her under him, both their movements sluggish in the salty water.

He glared down at her and he saw a trace of fear in her optics. Uncharacteristic of her, he was sure. But he knew he was out of character as well, in any other time him losing a wing would’ve been an immediate forfeit on his end. He didn’t care enough about this war to keep going when he was losing limbs. He still didn’t.

_But I care about her._ And Shatter’s threat still weighed heavy in his head, the threat that made him limbs kick upward,up to the air, to grab Shatter and drag her away from Charlie.

Shatter moved to stab him with the same weapon that had torn off his wing. But before she reached his face Thundercracker grabbed her wrist, crushing it in his grip and now Shatter didn’t even try to hide her fear of him.

_Rust_ , was his one word before he sliced into her chest, felt the fizz of her spark give out and watched her optics go blank.

He pulled away from her, and with one kick to her chest, sent her drifting down into the blackness of the ocean where she vanished from his sight.

Thundercracker let himself float. The adrenaline from the battle leaving him wary and exhausted. There was no going back now, he just killed a Decepticon-he was officially a traitor. But with the exception of his tiredness he couldn’t form any sense of panic or guilt or anything to the fact. And he realized he had been fighting for the Cons without truly being one for a long time.

A splash above made him look up, he saw a small shape break through the surface and swim toward him. He jolted in place when he recognized it.

_Charlie_! She had dived in for him, just for him.

Spark fluttering he quickly kicked himself upward to reach her. The first thing he noticed was her optics were slammed shut against the salt water. The red glow from his own optics washed over and-for just a moment, a flash of a klik as he gazed at her-the red glow turned blue.

Then he was reaching his hands up to carefully grab her. She tensed against him, not for sure that it was him.

“Charlie,” he tried to speak her name but his voice had an echoing and weird effect to it.

But she must have heard him because she smiled and reached her arms out to him. He let her trace her hands over his face, until she reached his mouth. And then, much to his surprise, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against him.

His spark did a couple of flips and he felt himself overheat just a little. But all too quickly Charlie pulled away and pointed upward with a look of apprehension.

_Oh right! Humans breathe!_

He quickly pulled her to his chest and kicked upward, reaching the surface quickly. Charlie took in a deep breath as soon as her head broke surface, blinking rapidly as she looked up at Thundercracker whose shoulders just broke the surface.

“Is it over?” she asked.

“Yeah, we won,” he assured her. “Good thing too since you decided you’d blindly jump into the ocean.”

She smiled with an apologetic and guilty look, “I’m sorry. I was just worried and, you can ask Cliffjumper I have been making a lot of reckless decisions tonight and I-” she came to a halt with a flustered squeak as he reached down and nuzzled into her chest.

“I love you too,” he said quietly.

Charlie hesitated a moment before wrapping her arms around his head. “You do?”

“I thought I was painfully obvious,” he teased. Then, just because he was paranoid, “And I do mean romantically. I know we didn’t get a chance to discuss if you meant a romantic and platonic love but I-”  
“TC,” she interrupted, he could feel her smile against him. “I just kiss you.”

“Oh, right,” now it was his turn to smile. “You did.”

A moment later he pulled away and started walking toward the beach, Charlie relaxed against his chest.

He saw Arcee and Cliffjumper, sitting down in the sand and leaning against each other. They looked as tired as he felt.

A few feet away stood Burns, looking to be comming his officials, Thundercracker’s optics narrowed slightly. He hoped saving him had made him at least somewhat grateful.

Dropkick’s body was sprawled on the sand, and even though Thundercracker would have liked to be the one who done him in, he could live with the fact he hadn’t.

But he came to a stop when he saw Skywarp slowly rising to his feet. The groggy jet held his head as he looked around, nearly jumping out of his metal when he saw Dropkick.

“It’s over,” Thundercracker spoke up.

Skywarp whirled around to stare at him, and that’s all he did. The two former friends stared at each other, as if trying to gauge the other’s next move.

Instinctively Thundercracker protectively tightened his grip around Charlie. Skywarp glanced at her and when he looked back at Thundercracker he was glaring and grief burned in his optics. Without another word he turned and flew into the night sky, heading straight upward until he eventually vanished out of sight.

“I’m sorry,” Charlie breathed.

“It’s not your fault,” he assured her. And it wasn’t. He was simply now on the opposite side of this war, and while he would miss his friends, he wasn’t going back.

_Goodbye, Skywarp_.

.

Charlie sat with Burns on the cliff, the sun was just starting to rise. The two humans were watching Thundercracker talk with the Autobots, they spoke too quietly for her to hear and she couldn’t gauge their expressions. Whatever they were talking about, she hoped it was going well.

“I was wrong,” Burns suddenly spoke up. It looked like it was hard to get the words out. “I was wrong about your friend.” He was looking at Thundercracker.

Charlie didn’t reply, she was watching Thundercracker, a deep sense of content and adoration washing over her as she did so. She knew she was young but, she was sure she’d never meet anyone else who made her feel the way he did.

“Oh, by the way,” she spoke up, suddenly remembering something. “My mom and her boyfriend saw Arcee in her robot form.”

Burns sighed loudly, “The government is going to have to pay this entire town good money to keep their mouths shut.”

She chuckled, but then a new worry came to her mind, “What’ll they do with them?” she nodded to the three robots.

“I don’t even know if they’re going to stick around, kid,” Burns said. “But if they do, I’ll be sure to put in a good word for them. That one Con escaped, but I imagine he plans on bringing friends.”  
Charlie looked up to the sky where Skywarp had disappeared. She had liked him, and felt bad that Thundercracker’s betrayal had hurt him. She hoped that maybe, someday, the two could make amends.

She brought her mind back to Earth as she saw Thundercracker turn and head toward her. Burns abruptly got up and walked away to give the two some privacy.

The jet’s expression was one of absolute befuddlement that almost made her laugh. “You’re never going to believe this Charlie.” He jerked his thumb to indicate to Cliffjumper and Arcee, “But they just invited me to go meet Optimus Prime.”

“Is that a big deal?” she asked.

“Huge,” he said, resting his arms on the cliff edge, “Prime is the leader of the Autobots, he’s someone a Con like me hoped to never meet in the battle field.”

“But they want you to meet him as a friend,” she smiled.

“More like a friendly acquaintance,” he corrected. He as staring down at the grass between them, his expression thoughtful. “But the way they were talking. I guess helping them fight, being friends with you, it impressed them. I think they are wondering if I’d make a good Autobot.”

“You would,” she answered immediately. “And you should go meet this Optimus Prime, I’m sure he’s very nice.”

He looked at her, “But I’d have to leave you.”

That was something she had made herself accept as he was talking with the Autobots. “Yeah, you would.”

“But…” he trailed off, looking caught off guard by her words. “I thought you’d want me to stay with you.”

“Of course I want you to stay,” she was quick to reply. “But Thundercracker, the Decepticons aren’t just going to leave you alone. And I don’t want, I’m scared they’d try to use me to hurt you. You’d be safer with the Autobots, they could help you more than I ever could.” It took all her strength not to look away from the pain in his eyes. “I’m not the only one who needs you, Thundercracker. All of Earth does, and so do the Autobots, and I know you could become a real hero. You’re already mine.” her voice cracked at the last words.

He looked down at her, and she couldn’t tell what was going through his head. He looked up at the sky where Skywarp had disappeared.

“After everything you’ve done for me,” he breathed, optics still skyward. “I don’t know if I can just leave you like that.”

“It’s okay,” she promised. “I’ll wait for you.” He looked back at her as she continued, “I’ll wait as long as it takes for you to come back. I promise.”

He slowly blinked and then his expression was both sad and resigned, but he smiled. He leaned down and pressed his forehead against her own. “Thank you, for helping me feel alive again. And for letting me know what love and joy felt like.”

She smiled, feeling tears streak down her face, “Thank you for being there, and helping me find myself again.”

They reluctantly pulled away from each other as the two Autobots walked over.

“Are you coming, Thundercracker?” Arcee asked.

He turned and nodded mutely.

Cliffjumper looked at Charlie and unexpectedly winked, “The next time we run into other I expect you to have some battle training.”

Charlie laughed and gave a salute, “Yes, sir.”

With a nod to her the two Autobots turned and started to walk away. Thundercracker moved to follow, giving one last, unsure glance at her.

She smiled, forcing past the lump in her throat, “I’ll wait for you.”

He nodded, offering his own smile, before turning away.

The three robots transformed, and as Arcee and Cliffjumper drove off into the trees Charlie watched Thundercracker fly high into the sky, making one fanciful twirl, and disappear.


	17. Chapter 17

_Ten years later_

Charlie drove lazily through the empty road, on one side trees bearing autumn leaves, and on the other she could make out the gray ocean beyond.

It was her birthday and she had spent the morning visiting her dad’s grave, letting him know how life had been going. She was still in training to be a fighter pilot but grew closer to reaching her dream each day. Otis was in college, not yet sure what he wanted to do with his life but had fun as a part time karate instructor. Ron and Sally were enjoying their golden years, still holding onto the money the military gave them.

Life had been good, after that night. She had come home to be nearly knocked down by the hugs she had received (an unexpected surprise considering she thought she’d be yelled at). Charlie and Sally had sat down and talked afterwards and it felt good, having her mother listen to her and after that their relationship improved greatly. Even she and Ron had gotten on better terms.

She and Memo had stayed good friends, Burns had saved him from his mother’s wrath by proclaiming him a national hero. There had been that awkward moment when he admitted he had had a crush on her. He quickly assured her he didn’t plan on asking her out on a date, having been there when she admitted her feelings for Thundercracker.

She thought about him everyday.

He hadn’t returned, not that she blamed him. She would hear on the news about unexplained city destruction or war-torn wilderness and knew the Decepticons had arrived on Earth. The fact had made her go through some sleepiness nights, imaging them reaching through her window and grabbing her and demanded to know where Thundercracker was.

She always paid attention to the background on the news, always had one eye skyward, looking for him.

But the years had passed and so far she had not seen nor heard from him. She’d admit to herself that there were some moments, where she was alone and despondent, that she wondered if he had forgotten her or even met someone else. But then she remembered how he looked at her on their last night together and knew that wasn’t the case. She’d just have to keep waiting-so she would.

She was running through dinner options, she knew Sally, Ron, and Otis would want to go out for her birthday, when she saw a lone figure on the edge of the road ahead.

She narrowed her eyes, they looked like they had walked up from the beach, though she knew it was too cold to go swimming.

As she drew closer she saw silky black hair and found herself slamming down on the brakes. The car barely skidded to a halt before she jumped out and looked toward the person, still in black leather because she had had a thing for bad boys. Green eyes looked over at her, smiling and then abruptly turned and headed downhill.

“Wait!” she gave chase. Was she dreaming? “Wait, hold on!”

She practically fell down the hill as she made her way down the beach, eyes searching desperately for the figure who she hadn’t seen since that kiss at the boardwalk.

It wasn’t long before she felt her shoes sink into the cold sand and she looked around the beach, with a jolt she realized it was the same place where they… she turned on her heel and headed toward the cliff. She hadn’t visited it in years.

 _Please, please, please, please,please-_ she stumbled to a halt.

A blue robot, now with two wings but with a few scratches across his body, was leaning casually against the cliff side. His red eyes threw a causal glance down at her.

“Oh, you’ll have to move along, little human. I’m waiting for my copilot,” he said, then smirked.

Charlie didn’t say anything, she could only stare, slack jawed.

“I’m hoping she’ll recognize me,” he went on. “I’m a bit more battle-hardened, Autobots are hard workers it turns out. But I finally earned my vacation.” He looked out at the water, “She liked the beach. She liked the Smiths too, so I was wondering if she knew of any upcoming concerts we could fly too.”

He turned to her, waiting for a response, but she was still tongue tied and he started to squirm. “Charlie, I kinda need you to say something back for this to be a conversation.”

Hearing him say her name, she hadn’t heard it in so long, she finally burst into tears and rushed toward him, “You’re _back_!”

He knelt down and opened his arms, waiting for her embrace. She practically knocked into him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face into his throat. He placed his hands on her back and she never wanted to move again.

“Thundercracker,” she was so happy to say his name again. “You finally came back.”

“Sorry for the wait,” he breathed against her hair. “Did you wait for me?”

She nodded, “Of course.”

He sighed, “You must have thought I wasn’t coming back.”

“But you did,” she gushed, pulling back to look into his eyes. “You’re here! I-I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too,” he nuzzled against her face and she giggled.

“How’s the life of an Autobot?” she asked.

“Way more chatty than I’m used to,” he joked. “But I’m glad I’m there. I have so much to tell you.”

“I have so much to tell _you_ ,” she replied, sure her smile would break her face. “I’m a pilot now!”

His eyes flashed with glee, “Just like your dad?”

He remembered. After all this time he still remembered. “Just like my dad.”

“Well then, Co-pilot why don’t you show me what you got,” he offered, his smile roguish.

“I have dinner with the family later tonight,” she said. “But that’s not until a few hours. And then after that we could spend all night together. If you have the time, I mean?”

“I’m all yours, Charlie,” he replied, voice thick with emotion.

“Then let’s fly, oh but first-” she leaned forward and placed a kiss against his lips. “I’ve wanted to do that for years.”

He looked a little flustered but then offered her the dorkiest of smiles, “Well in that case, maybe we can kiss one more time before the flight…and then a bunch more times after dinner?”

She laughed, “I think we can manage that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done and done! Hope you guys enjoyed it! And thanks for all the sweet comments, I don't always reply but rest assured I read and appreciate them all!


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